Actually, when I first started dabbling in photography, I was still working for my parents as a salesman. Herb Ritts More Quotes by Herb Ritts More Quotes From Herb Ritts I always enjoyed art history because, growing up in California, my exposure was limited, and it was a new experience. To learn the history of art opened up certain things to me, made me see. It intrigued me. Herb Ritts california growing-up art Coming from California and growing up where I did, I've always had a fondness for and innate sensitivity to light, texture, and warmth. Herb Ritts california growing-up light I'm pretty selective. I generally edit the contact sheets and then do work prints. Because I have my own lab and printers, I can afford the luxury of going through the contact sheets for black-and-white, making up work prints, seeing them big, and honing them down. Herb Ritts labs luxury black-and-white I think knowing people by first names, not by what they do sexually, is really what it's about. Not being afraid. Fear is the enemy. I've always been comfortable with being gay. Herb Ritts gay names thinking I abstract it in my photographs: I like large planes and spaces, areas of texture and light, like deserts or oceans or monumental places. Herb Ritts ocean space light I was an economics major, which I enjoyed because I had a good business sense. Herb Ritts business-sense good-business economics Once you develop your own style, you know when you're able to give your best. Feeling at home is part of it, and I don't think that's an L.A. thing. It's a matter of the environment and of what affects you. Herb Ritts best you style home That's why I felt so at home when I went to Africa. It didn't matter that I was halfway around the world in a foreign country, because all those elements are universal. And I think that's one thing about my work: It's universal. Herb Ritts think work home world When you start out, you're not really aware. I didn't have a sense of photographic history. Herb Ritts sense start you history