The Artist

This website presents extracts from the extensive portfolio of digital artist and photographer Martin Reichel, who died in 2014. Martin wasn’t particularly interested in publishing his work during his lifetime. Nevertheless, after his death I (Martin’s sister) decided to create a memorial to this unusual artist’s diverse body of work and to make parts of it accessible to a wider public. Above all, I wanted Martin’s friends and acquaintances around the world to be able to access his images whenever they wished.

Photography was far from being Martin’s only interest, but it was perhaps the one he pursued with the greatest passion, leading him to travel long distances despite his serious illness – from the decaying ruins of the industrial city of Detroit to Canada’s asbestos mines.

Decay in its multitudinous facets was one of the major thematic threads running through his entire oeuvre. Structures, both natural and man-made, was another. Both themes are expressed not only in his choice and capturing of motifs, but also in the elaborate way he processed his images, often distorting them to the point of creating entirely abstract works of art.

When he died, Martin left approximately 7,000 images behind him. Putting them in some sort of order was hugely challenging, as although he often provided titles for his images, he did not fully arrange them into series. This meant that deciding on the criteria to order them by theme was left entirely to me, his sister. With this in mind, I hope I have done justice to my brother’s work and created an online gallery that visitors can navigate and use to gain an impression of Martin Reichel's artistic universe. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me using the form on this website.