PHOTO:(BOTTOM)ANTHONYTIEULIBetween takes, Kevin O’Connor
captures the action from the
other side of the lens. Here, he
gives us some backstory
BY LAURA D. TESTINO
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEVIN O’CONNOR
Like many a new father, our TOH host
greeted the birth of his first child by rushing
out to buy a camera: “You have a new baby,
and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I gotta take
pictures of this kid!’ ” That was 14 years
ago—and only Kevin’s second year on This
Old House. Eventually, as he developed a
habit of carrying his camera around, he
thought to take it to the job site. “I quickly
realized that I was in some pretty
remarkable situations, whether it was
behind the scenes with the guys, seeing
the renovation process up close, or
documenting our travels,” he says now.
“So I just started snapping away.”
This was before Facebook and iPhones
and Instagram, and Kevin wasn’t thinking
about other people seeing his shots. But the
more photographs he took, the more he
enjoyed doing it, and the better he got at it.
He’s drawn to capturing the cast and crew
working at their craft amid the hubbub of
the job site, and quieter moments that
speak to the process, too, like wood curling
off a block plane. Now his photos appear
regularly in TOH magazine, on the TOH
website, and on his social media. Since he’s
one of the few on set for full days when the
show is filming, he’s realized he has become
the “unofficial chronicler” of This Old House.
“Now I feel a responsibility to grab as many
of these unique moments as I can.”
- “That’s apprentice Kevin
Barker in the foreground, on
the roof at Jamestown. He’s
a Marine, and he’s got some
experience; you can see it in
how he carries himself.”
- Photographer Anthony
Tieuli captured Kevin
between clicks with his
trusty Canon Mark IV at
the Brookline House.
- “This is cool because
they’re framed like they’re
on their own canvas: Expert
master patiently shares
lessons with new apprentice.
The fact that the apprentice
[Bailey Beers] is a young
woman with a tattoo on her
arm and the master is the
old guy with some gray in his
moustache says it all.”
62 THISOLDHOUSE.COM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 40 YEARS
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