Gary Rittermeyer was born and raised in Kansas City. After high school, he joined the United States Navy and was stationed in Bangor, Washington, aboard the submarine USS Alabama (SSBN 731). He later served as a Hospital Corpsman in Charleston, South Carolina.
Following military service, Gary graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Science (Broadcasting and Film Major - Photography Minor). After college, he worked as a video production assistant at KSHB - TV 41 in Kansas City, Missouri. Gary eventually became a published freelance photographer and wedding photographer at Van Deusen Photography in Kansas City. In 2010 he moved to Santa Barbara, California, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Photography at Brooks Institute in 2013.
Since earning an MFA, Gary has taught photography courses at Benedictine College (2015-Present), Metropolitan Community College Longview Campus (2013-Present), and Kansas City Art Institute's Continuing & Professional Studies (2013-2016). He was also a video camera operator for the Kansas City Royals from 2015 to 2020.
Gary is a member of the Society for Photographic Education, the Kansas City Society of Contemporary Photographers, and a former member of the American Society of Media Photographers.
Accomplishments include:
A Photographic Essay on the Monks of St. Benedict's Abbey
(photographs taken by Gordon Parks for Life magazine in 1955)
Gary was a co-curator of Gordon Parks images printed by Parks. The exhibition ran in the McCarthy Gallery of Art at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, from January 12-28, 2022.
Photographer's Forum: Magazine For The Emerging Professional
published in the book, Best of Photography 2013
Roundel: The Magazine of the BMW Car Club of America
published in the December 2012 issue
2012 International Photography Awards
(3) awards of Honorable Mention in Fine Art
Next Generation Show
July 14-Oct 21, 2012
Santa Paula Art Museum
Santa Paula, CA.
Internship with celebrity photographer Peggy Sirota
Sep-Nov 2010
Thousand Oaks, CA.
http://www.peggysirota.com/
Assistant Photographer at Van Deusen Photography
Summer 2007-2009
Kansas City, MO.
KC Industry Magazine
Special events and feature photographer
Summer 2007