AN INTERVIEW WITH BEN RITTER
Here’s a fun interview our friend John McSwain did with his best friend Ben Ritter, just another talented photographer who contributed to our latest Photo Issue.
One of my favorite stories about Ben Ritter is from a party at his house years ago. A mutual friend had arrived to show off his brand new, wildly colored tattoo of a shark or something. After we’d all finished gushing over the amazingly vivid colors Ben calmly stated, “yeah, well it’s gonna fade soon.” BOOM! It wasn’t sugarcoated but it was the truth and it stung, especially the tattoo owner. Ben’s a very honest person and that translates to his photos as well. He’s not one for much digital manipulation, he lives in the moment and he lets his images stand as iconic memories of some wild experiences instead of trying to reshape the past. He’s got a keen eye for telling a story in a single image, skilled enough to capture and present any image he can imagine and savvy enough to have made it his job and it’s a job that he takes very seriously. To me photography is kind of “hmmm OK” but the way Ben talks about photography makes me feel like it’s totally “ohhhhh snaaaaappppp!!”
Vice: I asked a close friend of yours what he thought I should ask you and his first response was “Ask him about being a goth.” Good friend, huh?
Ben Ritter: Yes, I was a gothy teen at one point.I know, and I sometimes stop whatever I’m doing and think about that. What DID ben look like?
That I was gothy ?No, I believe the goth story, I just wish I was there is all.
Dude, I didn’t even want to be there. I liked weird girls though, so it was one way to attract them.Read the rest of the interview here.
