A Legacy of Motorcycle Photography: Michael Lichter's Journey

Above. Michael Lichter and Jack McIntyre in 2002, Daytona Biketoberfest

Post by Jack McIntyre

There are motorcycle photographers, and then there is Michael Lichter. In my book, Michael is simply the greatest motorcycle photographer this industry has ever known. His relationship with Easyriders Magazine reaches all the way back to 1979, when the magazine first began publishing his work, and by 1981 he was on assignment shooting Sturgis, a place he would return to year after year, documenting the motorcycles, builders, characters, parties and raw American biker culture that became part of Easyriders history. Over the decades, his camera has carried him across America and around the world, producing more than a thousand published motorcycle features and photographing some of the most legendary builders and machines ever to roll onto the pavement. Spend some time on LichterPhoto.com and you’ll understand exactly what I’m talking about. Michael has a style you recognize before you ever see the credit. The light, the composition, the surroundings, the attitude, there’s a signature buried in every frame. He doesn’t simply photograph a motorcycle; somehow he makes you feel where that motorcycle was, who built it, who rode it and why the damn thing mattered.

I was fortunate enough to cross paths with Michael some 26 years ago, and what started as meeting one of the photographers I respected most turned into something far more important to me. Michael became a mentor to me & a friend, and he’s remained one ever since. I’ve watched and learned from a guy who seemingly has only one speed, keep moving. One day he’s halfway around the world chasing motorcycles, builders and biker culture through his lens, the next he’s back home in Colorado, trading camera gear for skis and heading onto his favorite mountain. That restless energy is part of what makes Michael Lichter who he is. He isn’t standing on the sidelines documenting this lifestyle, he’s living the hell out of it. After all these decades, all those miles, all those magazine pages and countless shutters clicked, he’s still chasing the next photograph, the next road and the next adventure. Plenty of people have photographed motorcycle history, myself included, but Michael Lichter helped give that history its look. And for a photographer like me who has been lucky enough to call him a mentor (to me…) for more than a quarter-century, that’s one hell of a legacy to witness from this side of the lens.