Photographer Michael Aaron Gallagher taking pictures on the marble terrace at Ca’ d’Zan in Sarasota, Florida.
Michael Aaron Gallagher is a self-taught photographer who began taking pictures at a young age with disposable 35mm Kodak FunSaver cameras. When he became a journalist, the newspaper where he worked only had a 3-megapixel Olympus digital camera for him to use to take photos for his articles. At the same time, he was finding it difficult to obtain permission to license the use of celebrity photographs to accompany his articles. The solution was simple – he decided to buy his own camera and learn how to take pictures. It was with his Nikon D-90 (DSLR) that he would go on to photograph hundreds of celebrities and document his travel adventures.
Michael focuses on the intersection of time and beauty in his work. Often, his photography deliberately includes lens flare and glare from a natural light source to add drama and action to a scene. His portraits and candid shots of people are framed against a black backdrop, whenever possible. With a passion for movies, he views his work as a single movie still with a story behind it that is as fascinating as the photograph itself.
Below are a few examples of Michael’s work, including iPhoneography. More pictures will be added as they are printed and framed. To view some of his travel photography of Lighthouses (click here), Waterfalls (click here), Butterflies (click here), Boldt Castle (click here), and Singer Castle (click here). To view his Concert Photography (click here).
“Sedona” (2019) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. Taken at Red Rock State Park in Arizona on Oct. 18, 2019, this 11” x 14” photograph is one of Michael’s favorite landscape images, showing the House of Apache Fire on the far left, a Hopi pueblo style house built in 1947.
“The Third Wheel, Martha’s Vineyard” (2020) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. An 11” x 14” photograph of a couple walking along the shore, while a man with a backpack stumbles along alone.
“Mission San Xavier del Bac Chapel, Sonoran Desert, Arizona” (2019) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. An 8” x 10” photograph taken with an iPhone 8.
“Star Wars Edge” (2021) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. The 11” x 14” photograph was taken on June 27, 2021. Three different StormTroopers were used to create this toy photography scene. Front and center, is a 6” unbranded StormTrooper action figure with binoculars, imported from China. On the right, is a 6” Disney/Hasbro First Order StormTrooper. In the background, is a 3.5” Star Wars The Power of The Force Storm Trooper by Kenner. The smoke effect was created with a smoke ball from TNT Fireworks. The cave was created using the foundation of a demolished garage, a piece of broken concrete with wire mesh set at an angle, a piece of rotting bark under their feet and a rock.
“You Can’t Go Home Again” (2021) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. The 11” x 14” photograph was taken at 16264 NY-12E in Dexter, NY. Built in 1962, I passed the general store and gas station on the corner many times as a child. Decades later, it is only a shadow of its former self, reminding me that you can never really go home.
“Bûche Perdu” (2025) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. Translated from French as “lost log,” this 11″x14″ photograph of a fallen tree washed ashore was inspired by the photograph “Baton Perdue” by Jock Sturges, which is in The Michael Aaron Gallagher Fine Art Collection. It was taken on Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario at approximately the same location where the film “Fear No Evil” (1981) was shot. You can see the Jock Sturges photograph on the page about his work in the menu above and another view from this same spot on the “Movie Sets and Filming Locations” page. A larger 16″x20″ version of this picture was also made and was one of the first of two pictures that I have ever printed that large, which was really exciting to see.
“Mow Cop Castle Ruins” (2004). This 5″ x 7″ 35mm photograph was taken from the roadside in England with a disposable Kodak camera. Photo by Michael Aaron Gallagher.
These two 8″ x 10″ black and white photographs were taken of the staircase and oculus at the George Eastman House and Museum, in Rochester, New York. George Eastman (1854-1932) was the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company. The first picture (on the left) was taken on November 18, 1997 with a black and white disposable instant camera and the second photo (on the right) was taken from my memories of that day. On March 21, 2025 I attempted to recreate the original photograph without looking at it, using my Nikon D90. When I examined the two printed images side by side, I realized that my way of looking at the world has literally changed as I grew up. Not only was I focusing on different aspects of the subject, but my actual height had changed, which contributed to more of the bannister appearing in the foreground of the original shot as my perspective was now different. Although my intention was to take the exact same picture decades later, I realized that these slightly different versions, taken from nearly the identical spot are far more interesting. Photos by Michael Aaron Gallagher.
“Truck” (2010) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. An 8” x 10” photograph taken at The River’s End Bookstore in Oswego, NY on the day I interviewed New York Times Bestselling Author Laurie Halse Anderson.
“Mirror Table” (2004), London, England. This 8” x 10” 35mm photograph was taken with a disposable camera, as I waited for hours in a lobby in Westminster. I was mesmerized by the reflection of this mirrored table. I thought it was interesting how the trash receptacle appeared to rise up out of the marble column. And the vase had an “as above, so below” vibe. Although I know the photograph only resonates so powerfully with me, it is one of my favorite photographs that I have ever taken.
“Stephanie” (2009) 11″ x 14″ print. Former Abercrobie & Fitch Model poses for Michael Aaron Gallagher in a movie theater.
“Time Travel” (2018), Upstate New York by Michael Aaron Gallagher. An unstaged, 5” x 7” photograph, taken by the side of the road with an iPhone 8.
“Empty Penn Station,” New York City (2016) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. This eerie 8″ x 10″ photograph was taken with an iPhone 6 at a rare moment in the subway, showing the sensational terra cotta art piece “Day and Night” by Andrew Leicester with no people in sight.
“Raindrops on the train back from Belmont Stakes” (2016) Photograph by Michael Aaron Gallagher taken on an iPhone 6.
“No Diving” (2018). Photograph of a partially frozen Cazenovia Lake by Michael Aaron Gallagher taken on an iPhone 8.
“Birds at Montezuma,” (2018) by Michael Aaron Gallagher. This stunning 8″ x 10″ photograph of two birds flying in different directions, casting their reflections from just above the surface of the water as sunset approaches, was only discovered recently in a group of other photographs from a trip to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in Seneca Falls, New York. It was taken with a Nikon D90.
“South Geddes Street Train Bridge, Syracuse, New York” (2011) by Photographer Michael Aaron Gallagher. This 8” x 10” photograph was entered in the Westside Through My Eyes Photo Contest that year.
“215 Tully Street, Syracuse, New York” (2011) by photographer Michael Aaron Gallagher. As one of Michael’s favorite photographs he has taken over the years, he reimagined the look of this building covered in graffiti to turn it into a modern art piece. This 8” x 10” digitally manipulated photograph was the second work entered in the Westside Through My Eyes Photo Contest.