Mike Ritter Photo

Mike Ritter Photo Celebrating the Boston community w/ caring, joyful portraits. Advocate for HVAC in all BPS schools. My name is Mike Ritter, and I'd like to tell your story.

I am a Boston-based freelance photographer specializing in event, portrait, and architectural work for area schools, non-profits, businesses, law firms, publications, and architects. I strive to capture candid and natural moments.

There's a reason for the lighting in the Who Are We? project, and the end of this post has info on two upcoming events w...
05/29/2026

There's a reason for the lighting in the Who Are We? project, and the end of this post has info on two upcoming events where you can participate.

It was shocking when masked ICE agents kidnapped Rümeysa Öztürk off a street miles from my home. It was shocking because this was not how the legal system or police are supposed to act in the United States if you truly believe in due process and the First Amendment. Sidenote, Öztürk was never charged and has since returned to Turkey to continue studying child development.

Authors Maria Kuznetsova and Dan Storyev cited Öztürk's kidnapping as one of the reasons they wrote How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian's Phrasebook for Everyday Life In America. The illegal kidnapping reminded them of life in Russia, and they could see Americans struggling to comprehend or even have language to describe it.

Through light and shadow, I wanted to echo the look of masked ICE agents. The resulting images are jarring and disturbing. I want to stress that law enforcement agents should not wear masks because of the anonymity it provides which leads to unaccountability which becomes brazen illegality.

I have 104 of the 250 portraits I need to create the American flag for the Who Are We? project. I hope you'll help me tell a truthful and nuanced American story.

Dot Fun Day
1160 Dorchester Ave, Dorchester, MA
5/31, 11AM-4PM
https://www.facebook.com/share/1RghhKzwqK/

JP First Fridays
Green Street Photo Collective
186 Green St., JP, MA
6/5, 6-9PM

Special thanks to Brayan Restrepo for his graphic design work and all the participants.




My recent Mass Art job had me thinking about the muscle memory of craft. The students are learning so many interesting ...
05/22/2026

My recent Mass Art job had me thinking about the muscle memory of craft. The students are learning so many interesting skills through repetition to become one with the material and the machine. You can see it in how they hold the roller, wield the blowtorch, interlock the wood pieces and so much more.

I relate on some level with my cameras in how I hold them when I'm photographing and even when I'm not. There's a gratification that comes from seeing how the camera sees and knowing where buttons are without looking for them. Building this into my subconscious allows me focus more on who and what I'm photographing rather than fiddling with buttons and k***s.

Here's to all of us losing ourselves in building some skill, and I'd argue there's an art to most any skill. All the better if it's in the real world with something tangible in this digital make believe world.



Had two lovely image library days at Mass Art so this will be the first of at least two posts about it. While we wanted...
05/15/2026

Had two lovely image library days at Mass Art so this will be the first of at least two posts about it. While we wanted to create hero solo images and at times shoot something a bit anonymous, we also wanted to drive home art creation in collaboration.

Making art can be a solo endeavor at times with some media more so than others. Photography by its nature invites collaboration at minimum with your subject. Still, I feel in 20+ years I'm only beginning to see and practice the power of creation in community and collaboration on a larger scale. Face it. We're all only so smart / creative / connected, but a group of people working together playing to each person's respective strengths can take a piece to a whole new level.

So, we were looking for situations of not just teaching but also of collaboration / community. Hats off to Mass Art, its staff and professors, and its students believing in the power of art especially in our current times.



I photographed the Greater Ashmont Hair Symposium Showcase last Sunday. It's always a treat to photograph the work Grea...
05/08/2026

I photographed the Greater Ashmont Hair Symposium Showcase last Sunday. It's always a treat to photograph the work Great Ashmont Main Streets does in my neighborhood and seeing the resources it lines up for the small businesses in its district. Structure Beauty Salon and Noir Essence Studios were the two salons where classes were led Alexia Malcolm and Kai Lopes-Stovell.

The City of Boston Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Cabinet, Square, and Boston Main Streets Foundation all helped make it happen.



At the Concord Museum's Gala last weekend, this corner table went on a tear bidding multiple times on the last prize of ...
05/01/2026

At the Concord Museum's Gala last weekend, this corner table went on a tear bidding multiple times on the last prize of the night, a bottle of Cristal.

Good thing too. It's more important than ever to give to our educational, cultural, and journalistic institutions. Federal money they used to receive has often been cut off entirely or only offered if the institution adheres to an ideological slant. For this reason, the Concord Museum has turned down Federal money this year so it can stay true to its mission of "inspiring people to make connections between the past, present, and future."



ICE has killed my Dorchester neighbor, Emmanuel Damas, and others with neglect. Citizens Bank helped finance his murder...
04/22/2026

ICE has killed my Dorchester neighbor, Emmanuel Damas, and others with neglect. Citizens Bank helped finance his murder. These pictures are from a rally organized by LUCE for Emmanuel Damas who died in ICE custody last month. There are two languages power understands: Where you put your body and where you put your money. I'm speaking in the latter this week.

ICE took Damas to an Arizona detention center run by CoreCivic where a toothache was ignored until it became septic. He died handcuffed to a hospital ICU bed on March 2nd. He wasn't here illegally nor was he a criminal as ICE stated while also claiming those they keep in custody are in "safe, humane environments."

I've been a Citizens Bank customer for over 25 years. They were a good bank for my business and personal accounts. But, turns out, they also have financed the private prison and detention industry since at least 2012. Since 2024, Citizens helped GEO and CoreCivic, the two largest private prison companies in the US and two of ICE's most important corporate partners, access more than $2.5B in financing.

I realize it's a fool's errand to expect purity in any organization (especially a corporation) or person; but I also realize our morals must be more than spoken and that small actions can lead to big ones. In 2019, in response to activists and shareholders, eight major banks (none of them angels) ended their relationships with the private prison industry, but Citizens did not. If Citizens can't find a better place to put its money in 2026 than these for profit prison / detention center hell holes, I'll have to do it for them... at least with my money. I'm now in the process of rolling over all my accounts to Eastern Bank.

I'm ashamed to see what the United States has done to Emmanuel Damas and his family. I'm ashamed my soon-to-be former bank helped finance this behavior. As Emmanuel's brothers said, he wouldn't have died of a toothache in Haiti.

Sometimes hopeful photographers reach out to me at the beginning of their careers asking for advice. I tell them to take money seriously and know what they're worth. Us photographers aren't often the most financially savvy types. On the hand, I wish Citizens Bank and so many other corporations wouldn't let money seemingly be the only thing considered in their decision making. There are so many more important factors we're all encouraged to rationalize away like the humanity of our neighbors.

https://www.de-icecitizensbank.org/





My friend Joyce got a new job and needed a new head shot. We ran the gamut with little visual hints to her many varied ...
04/15/2026

My friend Joyce got a new job and needed a new head shot. We ran the gamut with little visual hints to her many varied jobs and roles over the years:

1). A classic, work anywhere Swiss Army knife light set up fitting for her work as a public servant.
2). Let some shadows creep in for something a little more edgy just because she's got personality to spare.
3). Break out the Nanlite RGB LEDs to throw some color into the mix (once again, personality).
4). Optical snoot for the spot light effect fitting for her work in the music industry.

Mercy the dog came along for the ride and was very well behaved. I appreciate that Joyce humored my request to lug some of her favorite books to the studio fitting for her work in libraries. A revelation for me was how nice the Nanlite purple and blue portrait looked in black and white.

Side note for any photographer at any point in their career: get out there. I met Joyce back in '07 at a Dorchester Arts Collaborative breakfast. I was late and was trying to talk myself out of going. I went anyway and met one of the most consequential people to my now 21 year career.




The Americans by Robert Frank, a Jewish-Swiss immigrant, is the most famous photography book of all time. Published in ...
04/07/2026

The Americans by Robert Frank, a Jewish-Swiss immigrant, is the most famous photography book of all time. Published in 1958, Frank wanted it to show what was "invisible to others." As an immigrant, he could observe America without familiarity, sentimentality, or mythology clouding his lens. He saw segregation, loneliness, isolation and sadness all in a country near its supposed post WWII zenith. Despite the book also depicting beauty, it was received as "ugly." Now, it's known as "honest, humanistic, and groundbreaking."

I bring this up because I don't think an American could have made this book because an American doesn't have the fresh perspective on America an immigrant does. I do not believe throwing immigrants out of this country or shutting out potential immigrants make this country stronger. I would argue they and their viewpoints are needed to create a flourishing society. The marginalized understand society better than those in power do because they have no choice. Because of that, they more clearly understand what would truly make society better.

Not everyone in or this post is an immigrant. But, the immigrants I have photographed and sentiments that have been conveyed have gotten me thinking more about what immigrants should really mean to this country.

Thanks to all who sat and to Brayan Restrepo for his graphic design skills.

I will be at the Fields Corner Business Lab on Friday 4/24 from 5-8PM doing the Who Are We? project. If you'd like to participate, please stop by.




I detest superlatives; but I can't shake the belief that storytelling is the most important thing we do. That's because...
04/02/2026

I detest superlatives; but I can't shake the belief that storytelling is the most important thing we do. That's because it creates our beliefs and influences our emotions which in turn inform our decisions from the mundane to the profound.

Through ? I want to tell a nuanced and truthful story about America. For me, it's reclaiming the country / narrative I know to be true from the grotesque caricature painted by those in power.

Thank you to all those who sat for taking part in this story.

Thanks to Brayan Restrepo for his graphic design skills.




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