Eulogy from Kevin Raber for Michael Reichmann
Hello - I offer my sympathies to Teya, Josh and Reva as well as Michael’s good friends Nick and Chris and the rest of you present today. I am sorry I can’t be with you. I drove up last Tuesday and spent the last day with my best friend, Michael . . .
And, that is what I want to address today, best friends. Life is funny and with all significant people in our lives, there is a time that paths cross. My path crossed with Michael nearly 15 years ago. In an article - review on Luminous-Landscape Michael reviewed a Phase One camera and mentioned that if Phase One ever could make a camera with this high quality without a cord tethered to a computer he’d fork over the keys to his car. For those of you that don’t know it I was employed by Phase One at the time as Vice President for North America.
Being a passionate photographer and having a love for photography I followed Luminous-Landscape on a daily basis and loved the down home honest writing that it offered. At that time, the word digital was one photographers approached with apprehension and in many cases some reluctance. Michael, through his honest writing and frank, no-nonsense reviews of products, helped many including myself find our way into the digital world.
Well, the day came, and Phase One released a new untethered camera and wearing my marketing hat I made a call to Michael to see if he would look at it. I remember that call, and it was like the calls I made to teenage girls I liked for the first time. Apprehension and fear of rejection were on my mind. When Michael answered the call, I immediately felt good and knew I had nothing to fear. He was comforting, funny and welcoming. So welcoming he said come on up and let’s go shooting with this new camera. Wow, do you believe it I was going to go out shooting for a few days with God.
The day came, and Michael picked me up at the airport, and we headed to Algonquin Park where for three days we shot everything possible. The telling moment though came within our first hour as we found our first spot to photograph. A magical and colorful little place called Bunny Hollo. This is where I think we both found the mutual respect that became part of our enduring friendship. We were both on the same channel shooting there, we saw things the same way and embraced the beauty of the spot. (we both wrote about our experience there, search the site for the story)
After our shoot in Algonquin Park, we went back to his cottage. Any of you that know of that little house on the lake will know that it was not a cottage or at least in the terms as I thought of cottages.
We were both sitting at the dining room table at opposite ends viewing on our computers the images we had taken over the last few days. Needless to say, we were enjoying a good glass of wine too. Well after about a half hour of silence I heard rustling and these keys come sliding across the table, and Michael just said Fxxx You Raber. Yes, he bought the camera. The friendship we have had came as an option at no charge.
Since that time our friendship has grown steadily. We began traveling together, doing workshops and with a group of other close friend photographers would go on mancations and take pictures. All of us got to know Michael and his ways and trust me he had his ways, and he was always the Alpha Dog leader. He seemed to be the one who decided where we would stop for a photo and to our dismay drove by a lot of images we thought were good. I remember yelling at him on the Walkie Talkie once to stop, and his now famous line came back, “forget it Raber, there is no shot here”.
Michael has a lot of Michael-isms as I would call them. Phrases he would always say. And as much as we sometimes busted on each other it was always done with a mutual respect. My friend Michael was special indeed. He was fiercely loyal to those he trusted. He would go out of his way to do anything, and he would always do so with a spirit of fun and love.
A number of years ago knowing Michael was sick, he and I began talking about Luminous-Landscape, and I told him I’d be interested in possibly doing something if he ever got to the point he was ready for a change. It wasn’t that long before our talks became serious. And, not too long after that that we made an agreement, and I joined Luminous-Landscape as the CEO and Publisher. Luminous-Landscape for me is the biggest honor I could have as having shared the same passion with Michael for all these years I now was carrying the torch and assuring his legacy would live on.
Over the last few years I would speak to Michael on an every or every other day basis. We would skype each other and with glasses of wine in hand talk about photography but also other things. Deep personal things, the latest TV shows and places we wanted to visit and things that were happening in the industry. I know he shared that with others in this room too. It was what friends do. And we did it well. I’ll miss more than you can imagine those talks. I will drink my glass of wine each night and from now to the day it is my time to join Michael I’ll raise a glass to him each day. Friends are never forgotten. I was honored that he was my best man at my wedding in January 2105 in Antarctica - a place that was dear to both of our hearts.
I was lucky enough this past February to travel to Hawaii with my wife at the same time Michael did. We had beach houses only a few minutes from each other. During those few days, we had a chance to walk beaches and shoot pictures, and I am so glad we had those moments as well as share a few beers and meals. It’s hard to believe we are here today under these circumstances. I will come to terms with the loss and look for the positive aspects of living as I know Michael would have wanted. We talked about life a lot and living it. And, while we are here today mourning the loss of our friend, lets remember to celebrate in what our best friend made us realize more than anything else. That is to live our lives to the extreme. To find beauty in each sunrise and sunset and to embrace those friends and family close to us as that is what life is about.
Michael, I’ll miss you . . . I will laugh as we laughed and now and then I’ll cry a little too. Thank you for crossing my path, and I promise I’ll do all in my power to keep your legacy and passion for photography alive. You taught me a lot my friend.
Your friend in life and love
Kevin Raber
