Photophysics of zinc (II)-porphyrin oligomers PZn(ethyne) (n = 2–5) was investigated computationally using TDDFT and CC2 methods. The excitation energies of the S1 state of porphyrin oligomers decrease from 16,400 cm- 1 (n = 2) to 12,500 cm- 1 (n = 5), while oscillator strength (S0 → S1) and radiative rate constant increase with n. The low fluorescence quantum yield for PZ2(ethyne) (1 %) is attributed to fast intersystem crossing (S1 → T2), driven by small energy gap (ΔE≈0.02 eV) and large spin-orbit coupling matrix element (5.4 cm- 1). The energy gap (ΔE (S1-T2) ) is influenced by meso-substituents, which can cause the quantum yield to vary by orders of magnitude.