The Photography of Michael Cantor

"I've been photographing for most of my life. I started out taking classes in grade school, photo-edited my high schools yearbook, and went on to take courses in college, though I did not major in photography. I've been fortunate to earn an income working professionally, as well as show my personal work in numerous museums and galleries, and have learned much about the world and myself practicing the craft.

I've always felt that a portrait is about the rapport between the photographer and his subject matter. There are an infinite amount of angles to view the sitter, an infinite amount of expressions on a face, an infinite range of tones and plays of light. How one balances it all out and comes up with a decent shot is, I guess, where the "art" of the portrait photographer lies. There's something truly sacred about depressing the shutter release and packaging a moment right then and there. The finality of the shot provides closure, and can be quite liberating when we acknowledge what's done has been done, and can move on to another frame. If the image is manipulated after the fact (as is the norm in this digital age), it loses something gleaned from the immediate, even though it may gain something else technically or artistically in the editing—which I believe is valid, though no longer photography. Being a photographer, to me at least, is about being there to pull something timeless from something transient, and sometimes being lucky enough to have it communicate well to another."

Featured work (click on items below or use "Next" at the bottom of the page):

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You can see more of Michael's work at his website.