Michael Lichter: the man behind the camera
Maverick - Dec 3, 2010

Michael Lichter’s photography has been judged to be of superior quality by decades of motorcyclists and enthusiasts who stop to admire his prints. Custom builders bring their latest creation to his studio in Boulder Colorado, or to a motorcycle event set up to get Michael’s perspective. Celebrities have and continue to invite him to take more photos. Motorcycle manufacturers and suppliers from around the world invite him to their events.   And, motorcycle industry leaders pay his way to do “what comes natural”…a carte blanch directive that provides no directive at all, but recognizes that Michael’s artistic acumen supersedes anything they might suggest to get a photo that will capture the magic of their motorcycling adventures.  

Using his talent as a photographer, Michael Lichter is always willing to create a photo story about someone’s latest two-wheel customization. Perhaps more importantly for the past 30 plus years, he has had to put his own life at risk to capture the intricacies of motorcycling.  

In an interview with a Life & Style Columnist of the Rapid City Journal, Michael stated: “My photos cover a generation of biker people and attitude. These bikes show the stylistic and technological evolution of the machine.”

Many would declare that Michael is thoughtful, creative, energetic, and visionary as a photographer.   He is also courageous and possesses a mind that always seems to be at work. 

Prior to spending time with and learning more about Michael for this interview, I had seen a presentation of his work at a local Harley Owners Group meeting in 2004, had a brief visit with Michael while he photographed some new Klock Werks customizing accessories in early 2010, and then again at the Eternal Combustion: 30 in the Wind exhibition at the Buffalo Chip near Sturgis, SD in August of 2010.

Defined by 30 plus years of motorcycling and photographing motorcycling in action, Michael remains as modest and unassuming as he must have been as a 5 year old, when he was first exposed to developing photos by his uncle, and then again as a 13 year old, when his dad gave him a used WWII era Pentacon camera. 

Pentacon camera etched in seat of a custom motorcycle given

to Michael by friends in the motorcycling industry!! 

Michael grew up in New York. Upon receiving the Pentacon camera, he set up a dark room in his family’s basement. Along with the camera, a used Omega enlarger, and trays, he experimented long hours into the night creating photos and developing skills that would serve him throughout his career as a photographer.

As a child and during his youth, Michael also learned about adventure. He attributes his foundation for success to his nuclear family that encouraged his creativity, experimentation, freedom, travel, and provided latitude to experience new things.  His father was a Captain in the Air Force and fighter pilot in WWII who later served as an instructor to Israel’s Air Force. His mother came straight from Czechoslovakia (they were married in Prague) and strongly advocated “seeing the world.” His parents let him do what he wanted, and Michael had a “lot of freedom as a kid.” In addition to school, playing in a band and his photography hobby, he states he: “experimented with drugs, traveled, hitch hiked through Europe by himself following his 16^th birthday, and did things I would not let my kids do.” He says he was never bored and really doesn’t understand boredom. 

In 1973 after graduating from high school 6 months early, Michael moved to upstate New York to spend some months on a farm with a group of photographers honing his skills before moving to Colorado later that year. Michael stated: “My sister lived in Boulder, I wanted to go to the University of Colorado to study photography, but I had not applied and had to sign up through continuing education. I was a Fine Arts major taking graduate and upper level critique courses.” He tried school and attended some school, but photography and playing drums in a band occupied much of his time.  

How did motorcycling intersect with his life up to this point?  

He cites two experiences: The movie “Easy Rider” in 1969 and the book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” in 1976.   According to an account by Nicoll Stapleton in Quick Throttle Magazine, 2004, Michael recalled: “When I first really noticed motorcycles was in the film Easy Rider, in 1969. I saw it when it first came out. I loved it. I did not come out of the movie thinking ‘Oh, I’m going to get my own bike.’ I just loved it.” “A number of years later I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read the book, loved the book, and less than a year later I was riding my own Harley.”

Michael bought his first Harley in 1977, a 1971 Shovel Head, which he keeps in his studio today.  He purchased the bike in San Francisco and rode it back to Colorado. From that point forward, riding his Harley and photographing bikers gathered momentum. This work, along with a series on cowboys, was exhibited in solo exhibitions (80 prints) over the next few years; most notably in Dublin, Ireland and at the University of Colorado.

He tried to go to Sturgis in 1978, however due to some custom work on the Shovelhead, Michael arrived a week after the rally was over. He rode through town, where “absolutely nothing was happening,” according to Michael, and continued on to Canada and east to New York.  In 1979, his persistence paid off and he arrived: “just in time for the all night party that happened on Friday night in City Park,” says Michael. The first morning after his motorcycle arrival is documented in the widely published print titled “Early Morning” 

Click here to see “Early Morning”.  

I asked Michael when he first became a biker?

“I don’t call myself a biker, I don’t call myself an artist. I am a photographer!” Michael is accepted by the motorcycle world as a photographer. That’s what he does. Michael would show up where motorcyclists gathered, at rallies and events, and begin taking photos. His focus and work ethic was unique and people noticed. 

In 1979, Easyriders started to publish some of Michael’s motorcycle photography. He photographed a number of smaller events and features specifically for them, proved his abilities, and has gone to Sturgis every year since then.

After a solo exhibition of his work in 1981 at the Gallery of Photography in Dublin, Ireland, which was boycotted by the League of Decency, Michael became disillusioned with the “art world” and changed course. He stopped publicly exhibiting his photographs in favor of publishing his motorcycle work in Easyriders.  By 1982, his studio was open in Boulder, Colorado.

In 1979 Michael’s photography began to generate significant income and his courtship with Catherine, now his wife, was also flourishing. Michael took a trip to Ireland in the spring of 1980 to travel with Catherine. Afterward, she joined his world in Sturgis in August of 1980. Perhaps the rest is history.

While the economy has changed the way business is done, Michael intends to continue doing what he loves. He says; “to survive one must make adjustments and work harder. Publishing has been hit hard and advertising has dipped. Number of pages has declined, magazines are going out of business, and fewer assignments.”  

I asked Michael: how do you spend your time? Here are excerpts of how Michael spent his time during two months in the fall of 2010.

“I just returned from Atlanta, photographed 10 bikes, and in addition to staff assistant Steve Temple, hired another person locally to assist. The week before that I was in Louisville, Kentucky, then in Galveston at the Lone Star Rally shooting the event and had a gallery show. The week before that was in Greenville, South Carolina at a photo shoot and bike show, and just before that at Biktoberfest. During the month of September I rode 3300 miles backwards on the back of a 1953 rigid Panhead on secondary roads while photographing motorcyclists and documenting the Cannonball Run.”

During the interview, I characterized Michael as courageous. He had a very interesting response to this: “Courage…no one has ever mentioned that to me before. I don’t think of myself as being courageous. Courage implies there is fear to get over; have to conquer fear.“ He went on to say; “I focus on what I am doing. I have the ability to not think about risk.”   This from a man who has done the following things to photograph motorcyclists and motorcycling adventures:

• ﾌRode a motorcycle facing backwards for 3300 miles over the course of 2 weeks
• ﾌFell on his head from the tailgate of a pick-up at 70 mph and was run over by one bike while on a photography assignment for WileyX Sunglasses
• ﾌPhotographed Malcolm Forbes, Vaughn Beals, and a row of bikers from the tailgate of a pickup while traveling at 70 miles an hour on a crowded interstate
• ﾌAnd in his own words,“Climbed off of all sorts of silly things, and hung off all sorts of things, including helicopters, planes, trucks, and even the lift gates on the rear end of trucks four inches off of the ground while moving down the highway.”

When asked how are you different now than you were in 1977 as a motorcyclist and as a photographer, Michael had this to say; “It was not cool within the general population to ride a Harley in 1977. Harley-Davidsons leaked; no one could imagine what motorcycling would become. When I started in photography, I did not think I could make a living at it. But, things are increasingly complex. Have to keep things in perspective. This is a small part of American life.”

Michael continues to get assignments from Easy Riders, but these assignments require 6 days instead of 10 or 12. He will add a few days for another client: e.g., Harley-Davidson.  He will do a shoot, and in addition to getting paid for the photographs, he retains the right to sell photos to multiple and non-competing magazines in the US and overseas: e.g., Italy, France, and Sweden, by negotiating with editors he has known for years.   In this way, he gets enormous press and he gets more than one use from his photos.

What are Michael’s immediate plans and what does he look forward to?

Going forward Michael plans to continue his photography in the motorcycle industry. Eighty percent of his work is in this industry. Retirement is not in his plans, because he doesn’t look at his work as a job. He says this: “may change, perhaps I won’t have energy, but there will always be things I can do.” His goal is to do better and better assignments and better work.

Last year, Pirelli Tires sent him to Cuba with just one directive; i.e., do what you want to do meaning take photos of motorcycles that you want to take. “They sent me to shoot Harleys, carte blanche, and the photos went into a calendar that was distributed all over the world.” He loved it! On occasion, he can take Catherine along. For example, in 2009, his work took he and Catherine to Russia, where they were treated like royalty; then on to exhibitions in Sweden, Milan and Tuscany.

“Every year there are more assignments to anticipate, and when its over I can look back on it and recognize it was a dream assignment. That’s what I want to do…that’s what I love doing! My modus operandi is I can do this” His meaning is: if I can do it, I will do it!

To illustrate, Michael tells of recently meeting a black gentleman, a good looking styling person, and Michael wanted his portrait with a Martin Brothers motorcycle. He had a sticker on his cap and Michael said; “excuse my ignorance. I have no taste and style, but why the sticker?” “Keeps it ‘fresh’ said the black man.” When ready to shoot, a white t-shirt was protruding from under an exquisite black leather jacket. Michael asked about tucking it up. “Wouldn’t be cool” was the man’s reply. Michael later discovered he was talking with a huge hip-hop DJ from Atlanta. In addition to the promise of style lessons for Michael, Michael hopes to attend Black Bike Week with him, perhaps in 2011. Of the anticipated adventure, Michael says: “it will be cool to shoot Black Bike Week. I will enjoy doing an event with a different culture and different look. Something I’ve never done before. I feed off of new experiences. I Love to see/learn different things.” 

For Michael, a photographic image: “captures an instant that is forever frozen in time. It brings you right back there. You relive the feelings you had at that moment.” Rapid City Journal, Aug. 2001

Michael is a man who loves his work: shooting photos, editing, being on the phone, calling with an idea, seeing where it can go, and creating opportunities. Michael says: “You never know what is happening next.” 

Michael’s journey in photography has been well documented. Click here to view a gold mine on the history of motorcycles, rides and events, motorcyclists, and motorcycle custom builders, all created by Michael. Michael, inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame in 2005, has published 10 books, and his photography has been published in over 1000 articles and magazines.