Joe Ritorto: Faces of Open Way Yoga

Many of the beautiful studio and teacher images that we use on-line and in our marketing materials were taken by our friend Joseph Ritorto.  Joe has been a professional photographer for 8 years, but he has been viewing the world through his lens for much longer than that.  He tells a good story about how he started learning his art 20 years ago...  He was living a very simple life, camping in a wood shed.  He had no money, so he would go to Barnes and Noble and read the photography books right off the shelf.  Then he’d go out and practice, learning through trial and error.

It’s been many years since the days in the woodshed and Joe is a master.   He shoots all the basic special events - weddings, senior pictures, community events and social media.  He also photographs local landscapes... some of my personal favorites are Joe’s lake shots - he really captures the subtle light changes that make lake-watching inspiring.  Joe’s favorite is to document groups of people - music scenes, drum circles and counter culture.  He likes to just drop behind the lens and separate - connecting as a witness instead of as an active participant.  Knowing his subjects, along with a cool sense of detachment allows him to capture “the very small movements in the facial muscles that totally reflect a change in emotion.”

Joe also has a long standing interest in education and knowledge, as he says, “it’s not just education - when you have the ability to gain knowledge it transforms people.”  He talks very passionately about the role education play in helping people establish an understanding of cause and effect, and an awareness of different dimensions, “life is not so black and white.”

Neither are Joe’s photographs...  Even the images that are shot in black and white capture the multi-dimensions and nuances of the subject.  We’re thrilled to have Joe as a friend and collaborator and look forward this having him around more this fall as he partners with Keelie to bring back Art Day.  They plan to explore identity and community through a variety of artistic mediums including photography.  It’s going to be a great program!

Many of Joe’s images are for sale - for more information about specific images or to schedule a shoot with Joe, you can contact him at https://www.facebook.com/joseph.c.ritorto.