The present invention employs a photoacoustic apparatus including: a receiving unit that receives acoustic waves at a plurality of measurement positions and converts the acoustic waves to a plurality of time-series reception signals； and a processing unit that adjusts phases of the reception signals so that a phase pattern of a target signal among the reception signals corresponds to a specific spatial direction, reduces low-frequency components in the specific spatial direction from the reception signals of which the phases have been adjusted, and acquires characteristic information of an object based on the reception signals of which the low-frequency components have been reduced.
