Terrence O'Connor Keeps It Cute

How are you?

I'm so good. How are you?

I'm not leaving the house today 'cause it just started snowing again, so this is where we're at.

It's so miserable here. Like, what are we doing in New York?

Oh, so you’re in New York.

I'm still here.

Thank you so much for doing this with me today. I'm so excited.

Of course, baby.

So, tell me about how you're doing, where you're at. I mean, we know you're in New York now, but…

I'm in New York. I've had a fucking cold, and I'm, like, so annoyed about it. My friend is sending me pictures from Paris right now. It is, like, full spring. Flowers everywhere. Like, it looks like summer.

I know, my best friend was just in Aruba, and I was like, "So, you're in Aruba, and I'm in Bushwick." I see who's God's favorite, and it's not me.

No, it's not me right now. And I have a fucking cold since I'm in New York. But you know, otherwise, I'm fine.

Just fine?

I'm kind of being grumpy, but it's okay. I pierced my ear. What do you think?

I love it. Did you do just one? I feel like that's very classically gay, complimentary.

Right?

How long are you in New York? What do you have planned that you can tell me?

I have a shoot tomorrow, which will be cute. Then I have a shoot for a brand campaign at the end of the week which will also be cute.

The title is “Terrence O'Connor keeps it cute.”

I'm trying to. I dislocated my shoulder a few weeks ago, which was a huge, like, bummer because I've been on this, like, workout journey.

Oh, we know.

So I haven't been able to work out for the past two weeks. Anyways, I just started being able to work out again. So that's my big update.

Let's get into it. So the last few years have scaled up pretty quickly for you. How are you feeling, having your art and your vision being seen at this level?

You know what? I feel like every year I get to work with my favorite artists, or the people that I listened to when I was younger. Every time I'm like, how could it get cooler or more exciting? And every year it seems to surprise me. Everything has felt gradual. It’s made a lot of sense. And it all happened quite naturally. I really work with the people I'm friends with and the people I meet through my friends. In many ways, it's all been this sort of fluid organic journey that I'm really grateful for.

Are there parts about it that have surprised you or caught you off guard?

If you'd told my teenage self what I do for work right now, he would not believe it. It's so my dream. But it's also a job that I didn't even know existed. Like, it was not on my menu of options when I was a kid. So it's really amazing. That being said, I would not have expected to spend so much time alone in hotel rooms. But that is ultimately a part of my life.

What would you say is pushing you towards taking on larger scale projects?

I don't really think about the scale of the projects I work on, to be honest. I am aware that some people I work with are super big stars and some of them are more on the earlier ends of their journeys; some people were really big stars and are coming back into the light. That's not really something I think about. I get really excited about the work, and that's where it always starts: my friends or people I'm talking to sending me their work.

From there, I just consume it. I enter this blissful little honeymoon that's just myself and the artists where we're both together thinking about what all this could be.

And, you know, exploring all these different potential journeys, and then getting to imagine making certain things come to life together. That's kind of what it is. So it kind of is cyclical for me. Every year I embark on these new journeys and then they inevitably kind of come to a close around the same time.

And then I start up on a new batch. So I'm kind of in that zone right now with my work where I'm listening and consuming and I'm reading and starting to dream up little new ideas and think about new ways that the stuff could be in the world in an exciting way.

When you're presented with projects or collaborations, how do you approach it first? Do you have an image in mind, a reference, or are you thinking about the outcome? Where do you start?

Well, it's really different for each. I think I try to listen to what the artist wants, where they want to be at the end of the process of releasing it. That's honestly where we start. Most of the time people come to me having made this incredible work and they usually come with a certain level of vision. Some are fully fleshed-out visions, some are just sort of loose ideas.

And then I get to kind of jump in and get my hands dirty and help tweak or add or subtract based on what I think the artist wants for them at the end of it. And then usually for me it's what I kind of want to see or experience as a fan. Because of the people I work with, I'm honestly a fan first. So there is sort of this semi — I wouldn't say self-serving nature — but it is like I'm like, well, what would I want to do if my favorite artist was having a pop-up? What would I want to go to?

So I do bring a lot of my personal perspective and preference to it. But yeah, it always starts with envisioning the end, I think.

Obviously your role is very collaborative, and you have creative influence over the outcome. When did you start feeling like you're not just part of that conversation, but capable of leading it?

You know, I have a background in taking photos and image making in general. As a kid I was always painting. Then growing up I started photographing my friends and the people I worked with when I was in my early twenties. From that journey of creating images and releasing them and seeing how the world reacted, and beginning to understand that dynamic of making a visual and seeing how it's absorbed into the culture, that became really exciting.

And with social media everything is visual. Sometimes it's video and sometimes it's experiential and sometimes it's simple text-based things like tweets. There's a big vast array of ways in which artists are showing up in the world, and to get to play any part in helping make those things come to fruition is so fun for me.

Speaking of social media, you are quite a social media presence yourself. Is the internet still fun for you, or does it feel like a job now?

No, I love the internet. I think it's funny.

I'm really aware of the fact that I make content on the internet. I help advise people on what to do on the internet. I also post my work on the internet that isn't specifically social media. But I think it's kind of cool to be able to play in all of those lanes because we are all human beings consuming and interacting at all these various levels.

There was a time when I used to feel like I had to shut off certain aspects of myself to present a certain way on the internet. And now I feel like I do whatever I want. Sometimes it'll be like I haven't really photographed that many people in a while, and so it's just a bunch of photos of me. And then other times I'm really inspired by photography and I'm able to work with tons of other people and post a lot of not my face.

It kind of ebbs and flows. I try not to really take it too seriously. The internet has become this extension of our work life and our personal life, and I try to just engage authentically based on what I like.

Would you say that your presence, publicly or on the internet, is something you want to keep separate from your art? How do you engage with being perceived publicly when you're tied to someone else's art?

That's a good question. I think one thing that I'm always thinking about — it's kind of an odd thing. I think I like being my own person on the internet.

I think the internet is a nice forum to express myself and connect with other people. And I think I have a lot of fun on there that isn't necessarily tied to my work, even though it's related sometimes. So I try not to think too much about the dynamic.

There have been times when I've spiraled about it and I just think it's best to avoid. I have an inner voice that guides me, and it usually guides me correctly. Sometimes I falter, but I try not to be too predictive about how I'm being perceived, because it's a dangerous trap to fall into.

Do you feel like there are people internally or externally who misunderstand the work that you do?

I don't know. I don't think so. I personally like talking about my work myself, or presenting it in my own words through my own art forms because I know it best.

And with anyone I work with, each one is such a different dynamic and role and it really changes. So I think sometimes people might think they know what I do based on work that I do with one person, but it really changes with everyone I work with. So I guess that is one aspect of what I do that maybe can be misinterpreted.

So, obviously since we are doing our “Coolest Person in the Room” series, I have to ask you: who is your coolest person alive or dead?

Oh my God. My coolest person alive or dead? I mean honestly the first name that popped into my head was Britney Spears. She's the fucking coolest. I'm in a major 'Blackout" era right now. I’ve been listening to ‘3,’ her threesome song. Circus, Womanizer. I can’t get enough.

My last question is: if you had zero restraints, what would the Terrence O'Connor universe look like?

I would like to not have anxiety. If it was up to me none of us would have anxiety. Straight guys would be hot and friendly and not homophobic and hateful and just be really good at dating all of my friends. And you know what I would have?

I would have a Spotify that shuffled exactly how I want it to. My Spotify shuffle is a blind man walking through the woods at midnight. It does not know where it's going. It's just bumping into things left and right. In my perfect world I have a Spotify shuffle that knows what I want to listen to.

I'm going to send an email to them for you after this.

Oh, perfect. Please! That’s what I would choose.

Photography by Diego Villagra Motta
Story by Alaska Riley
Story by Joan Summers

Styling: Angelina Cantú
Grooming: Ryann Carter
Lighting Designer: Peter Demas

Photo Assistant: Xandra Hafferman
Styling Assistant: Sal Lee

CCO and CEO: Brian Calle
Executive Creative Producer: Angelina Cantú
Senior Editor: Joan Summers