For many years, his photo credit ran beneath photos on the front page of the Washington Daily News. Now, Ric Carter’s photos of North Carolina street life hang on the walls of Riverwalk Gallery and Arts Center in downtown Washington.

Carter’s photography show will be on display at the West Main Street gallery throughout the month of June.

“They’re beautiful,” said gallery volunteer Jane Wall. “There’s this one of this black man, it’s called ‘Totem,’ and he’s got all these beads and necklaces and rings and he’s got a cane with a snake’s head on top. It’s a really lovely collection of street people — all kinds of people who are on the street.”

The photos are all unplanned and all are taken of strangers to Carter, a process that Carter said takes a minimum of interaction.

“Many have the look of being posed and they aren’t,” Carter said. “I’d be surprised if any of these took more than 10 to 15 seconds of interaction. It’s just those quick interactions that you get with people that these portraits come from that I really enjoy.”

Enjoying portraiture wasn’t always the case, especially when he first began working as a photographer at the Washington Daily News, back in the days when he’d be up until 2 a.m. developing 25 rolls of film after a Friday night football game.

“I don’t think I would have ever been considered a portrait photographer. When I started at the paper, I kind of avoided taking people pictures,” Carter explained.

But with the advice of  “Carter, you’ve got to take pictures of people. People sell newspapers!” from a former colleague, Carter moved away from scenery and toward people.

While his work at North Carolina Mason requires his photography skills, he was excited to get the call from Riverwalk Gallery asking if he’d like to show his work. He didn’t have a particular theme in mind when he began putting the exhibit together, but one soon became apparent.

“There are plenty of boat and barn pictures already, so I thought something a little different might be fun,” he said.

Carter said this method of photography — capturing random encounters — serves another purpose as well: as his chief form of therapy.

“I can’t walk for exercise, but I can wander around all day with a camera around my neck in downtown Raleigh,” he laughed.

Though he’s lived in Raleigh full time for the past 15 years, Carter has kept his foot — and a home — in Washington, a place he said is pretty lucky to have so many organizations and galleries that give artists a place to exhibit. In the past, it was the Beaufort County Arts Council, Brown Library and the North Carolina Estuarium where artists had the opportunity, support that has led to a thriving arts community, he said.

“The growing number of galleries downtown speaks to the history of Washington and art,” Carter said.

Carter’s photography will be on exhibit at Riverwalk Gallery and Arts Center, 139 W. Main St., Washington, throughout the month of June.