Connor Smith - Our Favorite Photographer In The Shadows

Connor Smith is our longest tenured team member here at OTO. He’s a brilliant photographer working to complete his BFA in photography at Temple. He also happens to be one of my favorite people in the world. When I first started at OTO, I knew Connor could answer any of my questions with kindness and ease. It was such a relief to have someone that generous to help show me the ropes, and now, a couple years later, it’s such a delight to call him one of my best friends.

Connor started at OTO in 2017. Before he applied for the job, he used to come by every now and then to shop. It was the people and his own outdoor lifestyle that told him OTO might be a good fit for him. And it must’ve been, because he filled out an application and got a call later that same day asking him to come in to start training. He started out with shorter shifts until about a year later when Sarah and Heidi bought the store and he started taking on more hours and responsibilities. The strong community with the staff and customers has kept him here, and he’s loved the opportunity to see our regulars’ families (and dogs) grow over the years. 

Anyone that works here knows that days are just better when Connor is on the schedule. He’s the kind of person that lifts everyone up, taking on whatever task needs to be done and bringing a positive and calming energy to the shop. We’re so lucky to have him, and so excited for all that’s to come. 

This Friday, Connor will present his thesis exhibition as the culmination of his degree at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. It’s a celebration of the work he’s done in the program, and an opportunity for us to see what he’s been working on for the last few years. We’ve gotten updates as he’s progressed with the project, but it was so cool to sit down and really talk about it with him a couple weeks ago. He has such a wealth of knowledge about his craft, and his passion for the project was contagious.

 Connor’s thesis exhibit, “Familiar Shadows,” considers nostalgia and the rediscovery of home. As a concept, home means vastly different things to different people. It can also take on different meanings for the same person over time. Connor knows this well, having moved with his family from South Carolina to Pennsylvania, and then moving in with his boyfriend when his parents moved back to South Carolina a couple years ago. It’s ambitious to try to capture something that’s always in flux like this, but Connor’s vision accounts for that poignantly in its specificity. The exhibit explores quiet and intimate spaces in a documentary style, a lens that makes the everyday minutia of one person’s home recognizable to people with countless different experiences. 

His entire exhibit is shot and printed in black and white, a stylistic choice perfect for its subject matter, capturing light and shadows in a way that’s both stunning and perfectly nostalgic. The choice also aptly goes back to Connor’s roots. His grandfather is a photographer, and Connor grew up helping him out at the frame shop or in the darkroom. He got his first camera in the fourth grade and immediately fell in love with it, so he and his grandfather started going on weekend trips to the mountains and beaches in South Carolina to take pictures together. Connor’s grandfather was his first photography teacher on these weekends, and the exhibit brings this home beautifully. At the time, his grandfather only ever shot in black and white film.

Connor pursued photography for fun for many years. When he started entering contests and winning them, he realized he was actually pretty good at it. He started doing some freelance work during high school, but when it came time for college he wasn’t sure what to do. His grandfather warned him against pursuing photography as a career because there wasn’t much money in it, and initially Connor took the advice. It just took one darkroom class to get Connor back into it, though, and before long he was talking to his advisors about making the switch. He transferred to Temple soon after that.

It’s so special to get to see this exhibition after knowing how much work has gone into it over the years. I know I can speak for all of us here at OTO when I say how proud we are of Connor, and how excited we are to see his next project and all the ones that follow.