19

Cindy Crawford

Like many great artists before him, nudes were an essential element to HERB RITTS  completed works and, like his black + white and color portraits, were breathtaking. So, on the third and final day of my retrospective, I present Herb in bare skin.

Herb believed that natural elements and subjects stripped to the barest form were the most difficult to capture, but he always seemed to do so in a sculptural way, defining the body’s form and detailing lines and curves beautifully.

Longtime friend and collaborator, Cindy Crawford has said that Herb was a perfectionist and, knowing this, she learned to trust him even when she was wearing nothing at all because the end result would be tasteful and elegant.

I couldn’t agree more, so here are a few of Herb’s exquisite images in bare skin:

Bill T. Jones

Christy Turlington

Djimon Hounsou

Gisele Bundchen

Helena Christensen

Naomi Campbell

Nicole Kidman

Male, Untitled

Carre Otis

Kim Basinger

Photos © Herb Ritts Foundation