'A Life I Wish I Had' in pictures

Park Place Arts exhibit features stunning photography of Cliff Ritchey

ANDERSON — There’s a range of imagery depicted on the walls of Park Place Arts.

There are black-and-white photos of water surrounding rocks in Baja’s Sea of Cortez, Mexico, and images of mountain towns of Turkey.

Then there are the recognizable faces of Jon McLaughlin and Josh Kaufman.

“It’s a look into my past and trying to be grateful for what I get to do,” photographer Cliff Ritchey said.

A sample of Ritchey’s extensive work is on display in “A Life I Wish I Had: The Manifestation of Living Through Music & Photography,” an exhibit at Park Place Arts, 515 E. Eighth St.

“It’s about how we’re always wanting something else,” Ritchey said. “It was my journey as a photographer from dreaming of doing landscapes to then wanting to do commercial photography. There’s always something more we could want.”

The gallery showcases photos the artist has taken throughout his travels to places such as Wyoming, Mexico and Turkey.

The exhibit also features portraits and photos of Indianapolis, including a perspective photo that turns the Massachusetts Avenue Kurt Vonnegut mural into the “I” in the “ndy” sculpture on the street.

Visitors will see the familiar faces of singers McLaughlin and Kaufman, both of whom Ritchey has known for years.

The “Disco Kaufman” photo shows the former Anderson University student and “The Voice” winner under the disco lights at Anderson Roll Arena.

Ritchey met Kaufman when they were both students at AU, and they’ve played music together throughout the years.

Ritchey said the photo of Kaufman at Park Place Arts suits the singer’s ‘80s, cool vibe.

“It’s really nice to work with your friends because they know you and there’s that sense of passion,” he said.

Ritchey’s two passions are music and photography and he’s able to combine those two loves with an upcoming gallery talk at Park Place Arts.

Ritchey will perform and talk about the correlation between photography and music at 8 p.m. April 2.

Park Place Arts owner Eliot Reed has known Ritchey for years and has always enjoyed his landscape and commercial work.

“It’s a real testament to his talent,” Reed said.” Landscape, which is what I typically do a lot of, has its difficulties in terms of dealing the field and everything, but it really shows his ability to work in an uncontrolled environment like the field of landscape and then a really controlled environment in terms of studio work or professional work.

“He’s really masterful at lighting his subjects and getting some really neat results.”

“A Life I Wish I Had” is free and open to the public through April 16. Park Place Arts is open noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

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