Veteran photography writer brings print work back to life on the Web

By Kevin Ueda: Photographer Michael Reichmann had his first gallery show when he was 19. He made his first steps into the online world when he was about 55.

The Luminous Landscape was created in 1999 as a way to for Reichmann to share his photographs and shooting tips and to sell his instructional media. The site, he said, allowed him to be his own editor when it came to writing columns.

Reichmann has been a photographer for more than 40 years and is a contributing editor to Photo Techniques Magazine. As a photojournalist, professional photographer, columnist and product reviewer, he has delved into virtually every medium — from books to magazines, video and DVD.

"I had quite a number of magazine articles, where the rights [to the articles] reverted back to me," Reichmann said, adding that he decided to bring his print work back to life by making it accessible on the Web. Reichmann also uses his site to write reviews of cameras and related equipment. He notes that his Web site allows him to write a review of a bad product, something he says he couldn't do for a magazine.

"If [a product] is really just nasty, my chances of writing about it [for a magazine] would be slim,” he said. "A magazine won’t be interested [in publishing a review of bad equipment]. On my Web site, I have the freedom to say if something is really nasty. I’ve written many articles, but have never been censored."

The Luminous Landscape gets about 750,000 to a million hits per month, from countries around the world, Reichmann said.

"There are literally tens of thousands of sites where people put their photography up and that’s great," he said.

But despite the popularity of online photography sites, Reichmann said that digital photography on the Internet just doesn’t compare to large prints in galleries.

"The problem with publishing photography online is it absolutely cannot compare to seeing a very well-done, well-produced, high-quality print with good light on it," he said. "The Web is like shaking hands with gloves on. The aesthetic pleasure to that is missing on the Web."

"With a gallery, you see others peripherally in a body of work," Reichmann said. "The problem with the Web is you’re looking at essentially one image at a time."

Reichmann said that he didn’t believe he was in a position to offer much advice for other photographers who may want to start their own websites, but said that each project must start with a unique vision and a passion.

"If you want your work to be seen and appreciated, I think what the photographer has to do is have a unique vision," he said.

"Don’t just put out dozens or hundreds of photographs: Choose your best work that is unique, that says something unique that has your signature attached to it, whatever that might happen to be."

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