After his schooling at King Edward VII in Johannesburg, Michael went on to obtain a B.Com at the University of the Witwatersrand, then entered the family steel merchandising business. During this period, he was very involved in photography, being an active member of the Camera Club of Johannesburg as well as being a significant contributor to International Salons, Group Shows, and Solo exhibitions.
At the age of forty, He gave up the world of commerce and entered the exciting arena of advertising photography. He pursued this for several decades, but his fine art work slowly took over and today remains his sole photographic pursuit. His photographic activities in the past decade or so have centred on exhibitions and the refining of his approach to fine art photography.