Michael Cannon O'Malley

Over the years, my conception of fine art photography formed, evolved and ultimately coalesced into what I call Subject Essence. This means I seek to reveal the subject’s inner life, if you will. Subject Essence is the one element, in that crucial photographic moment, that reveals the subject’s true inner nature. It dissolves barriers and takes the viewer into the subject’s heart and soul, opened now for all to see. As compared to science, for example, it is like discovering the secret to DNA and then revealing that perfect helix to others who would have not seen it otherwise. Subject Essence reveals the indispensable nature of what has always been there. It is not to tell a story. It is not to reinterpret reality. It is not to use the subject as a means to another end.