[2] Among his many collaborations with other directors, Schmidt-Reitwein is known for shooting Alan Greenberg's acclaimed 1982 documentary about Jamaica and death of Bob Marley, Land of Look Behind.
After attending Waldorf school, Schmidt-Reitwein studied physics for a few semesters in Lübeck, before moving to Berlin in 1959 to pursue a career in film.
In 1969 Werner Herzog offered him the chance to work on a documentary feature film as director of photography.
He also worked with several well known directors including Douglas Sirk, Alexander Kluge, Herbert Achternbusch, Josef Bierbichler, H.C. Blumenberg, Werner Schroeter, Alan Greenberg, Valie Export, Doris Dörrie, Jochen Kuhn [de], Markus Fischer, Douglas Wolfsperger and Andre Heller.
At the end of his life he lived on a remote farm near Münchham, Ering, Lower Bavaria, Germany .