A photoacoustic apparatus comprises a light source an acoustic wave receiver receives an acoustic wave and converts into an electric signal a first acquisition unit acquires a first absorption coefficient distribution inside the object using a first method a second acquisition unit acquires a second absorption coefficient distribution inside the object using a second method a third acquisition unit calculates the distribution of functional information on the interior of the object and an image generation unit generates an image by masking the distribution of the functional information based on the second absorption coefficient distribution, wherein the second method is a method that can implement higher visibility than the first method when the absorption coefficient distribution is imaged.
