O'Connor featured at the Guild

MILFORD — Photographer Thom O’Connor is the featured artist this month at the Highlands Photographic Guild with an exhibit of his color images, “Ireland, Not So Long Ago.” The show opens Dec. 7, with an opening reception on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 6 to 9 p.m. This exhibit, will be the first public showing of these images which O’Connor took thirty years ago. O’Connor, a photojournalist and studio photographer, spent three intense weeks in 1977 crisscrossing the Republic of Ireland. “I was trying very hard to capture the place my grandparents had come from,” recalls O’Connor. “I was so intent on making good pictures, that I hardly remember any actual details of the trip. It’s been great to come back to these images after so many years.” While reviewing his photographs, O’Connor was surprised at how ageless the images seemed. “While Ireland has now roared into the new century, there are still people and places that look very much like they did fifty years ago.” “Ireland, No So Long Ago” will be featured in the Gallery thru Jan. 5. The Highlands Photographic Guild at 224 Broad Street (Wachovia Bank Building) is open Friday — Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. More information about the gallery and its members can be found at www.highlandsphotoguild.com or by calling 570-296-2440 during gallery hours.