We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kent Barker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kent , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
As a young person, I believed initially that my purpose was to be a dancer. It was something that brought me so much joy and because of that, I wanted to follow it. I moved to New York to accept a scholarship with Joffrey Ballet the day I graduated high school, but a knee injury very quickly ended that aspiration. About a year later I was casually introduced to photography by a college friend. She was doing darkroom work for a class and invited me in to watch the process. The magic of seeing an image appear in the tray under the safelights completely blew me away and I knew immediately that this is what I would do for the remainder of my life. I enrolled in a photography class the next day and have been a professional photographer for all of my adult life. I am now 71, so it’s been many decades.
As I look back on this now, I think the truth is that my purpose actually found me and that I was just lucky enough… a.) to realize it and b.) to have the courage to follow it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
At 71…I am in the late stage of my career. During COVID, I had a kind of epiphany of sorts and gave myself permission to try things I’d not had the courage to pursue earlier. The first of those was taking up dance photography. Shooting dance brings my early love of this medium alive again and marries it with the technical knowledge I’ve acquired as a long time commercial shooter. I absolutely LOVE doing this work and that shows in the work that I’ve created. Currently, I’m working on a book project that will celebrate professional company dancers within the Dallas & Fort Worth metroplex. As the project has evolved, a number of the companies have become aware of my work and are now hiring me to shoot their promotional material. That’s been very gratifying.
Shooting dance is a passion project though because I’m not really doing it for the money. So, having a dependable livelihood is still really important. For the past 15 years, that livelihood for me has been primarily in the corporate portrait and brand identity arena. Am excited to say that I am in the process of changing that however… and this is the second big leap that I am making. When I look back at the many photos I have of my parents, there are only a few that I actually want to keep, frame and display. What speaks to me are simple images of them that are beautifully lit. They are usually black & white and are physical prints. They are classic and timeless and something that I can passed down to my kids and that they can in turn, pass on to theirs.
I am calling this new direction Legacy Portraiture: providing classic modern imagery to individuals and families in the form of beautiful and lasting prints. Shooting in this way is something that comes naturally to me and is what I have always been known for as a magazine portrait photographer. We are all in this crazy digital world right now with a raft of images on our phones & computers. What most of us don’t realize however is that these images are very likely not going to last. The phone or hard drive will get lost or broken, the operating system will change and no longer recognize the file format, etc….. and eventually all of this imagery will disappear into the digital void.
I want to create beautiful things that will last.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Be Obsessive I have often said that in regard to photography, I am like a character in a John Irving novel…….”I got obsessed and I stayed obsessed.” I love this medium and I spend an inordinate amount of time engrossed in it. I look at images, I collect. photo books, I go to photographers websites..and most importantly, I shoot and I shoot and I shoot. I am good at what I do because I’ve done it a lot and for a long time.
2. Know That Discovering “Who You Are” Is Not An Intellectual Process
When young photographers look out at the great image makers of the day, they recognize that each of these individuals has a style or vision that is unique to them…and then they begin to ask themselves, what is MY style? My advice in regard to this is simple: Do not try to intellectually decide what your style is or looks like. Instead, let joy be your compass. Zero in on what brings you the greatest joy and then follow that with everything you’ve got. If you really and truly do this… you will all of the sudden look up one day and realize that your work has a singular voice. It will surprise you because you never consciously tried to create it. It will also be genuine and authentic for the very same reason.
3. Zen and The Art of Photography
One of the things I discovered very early in my photographic journey is that for me, photography is a meditation. When I shoot, I focus only on what is in front of me and I let go of everything else. I am fully and completely present and there is a wonderful joy and calmness in that. I highly recommend this approach when possible.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
Most writers are prolific readers and this builds within them an understanding of the medium. They begin to see how skilled authors craft stories, have different styles of writing, etc. I believe this same process is also important for photographers. We must build and nourish our own ‘visual literacy’. I didn’t learn much about commercial photography in school…that knowledge came later through assisting. The lasting gem of my art education came from the history of photography. Seeing great work taught me so much (and still does). I am constantly inspired by the masters…from both the past and the present… and when I hit a dry spot (as all artists do), I can always find my way back by re-visiting this well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kentbarker.com/
https://www.kentbarkerdance.com/ - Instagram: @kent.barker
Image Credits
I have sent 4 dance images and 4 images to illustrate the Legacy Portrait direction. No credits needed. If the Legacy images can be delineated as such, that would be appreciated.
