Michael F. O'Brien lived and worked in Seoul, Korea from August of 1963 to June of 1997. He grew up on a dairy farm in the beautiful wooded hills of northeast Iowa. At age twenty-four he left the corn fields of Iowa for the rice paddies of Korea. Those rice paddies fascinated and excited him with their ever-changing patterns and through them he learned, also, to love the Iowa corn fields he had left behind. He is a retired art and photography teacher from Seoul American High School in Yongsan, 8th U.S. Army, in Seoul, Korea.

Mr. O'Brien's credits include Far-Reaching Fragrance - Photographs of Korea, a collection in coffee table book form of photographic insights into traditional Korea. He has also co-authored a high school photography text, The Photographic Eye - Learning To See With A Camera.

1984 - John F. Kennedy Center Fellow for Teachers of the Arts.