We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kent Barker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kent, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The first real passion of my young life was dance. I studied at a top level academy from age 6 to 18 and then went to Joffrey Ballet as a scholarship student the day I graduated high school. A knee injury ended those aspirations and a couple years later I found my life’s true calling,,,photography.

Fast forward 40 years. After a long career as a professional photographer, I suddenly found myself in the middle of a pandemic… sitting at home with no work and nothing to do. My response to this odd gift of time & isolation was introspection…and the result was an epiphany of sorts. I realized that there was something unrequited in my life as a photographer and that was Dance Photography. Dance was my first love and photography… my life-long passion.

At the ripe old age of 70, I decided to throw my hat into the ring of Dance Photography. I wanted to combine my love and deep understanding of the medium with the experience and technical prowess I’d gained as a life-long shooter. I made the decision a year and half ago and it was without question the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. Are there any regrets? Only this…”Why did it take you so long?”

Kent, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For the past 20 years my primary service has been creating imagery that speaks directly to an individual or companies brand. My client base is a wide swath corporate executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. I also work with artists, writers, actors and other creatives. Brand based portraiture is the foundation of my business. It’s something I love and am very good at. It is also what enables me to take on a passion project like Dance.

As I dove into the world of dance photography, I realized very quickly that professional company dancers were the subjects I was after. These individuals have spent their entire lives training and as members of professional dance companies, they represent the top tier of their craft. Initially, I was just super excited to get to work with dancers of this level. As I got to know them and the companies they represent however, a greater calling began to take shape.

I realized that a unique and almost unicorn-like hotbed of dance activity has formed within the Dallas & Fort Worth area. Texas Ballet Theater, Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Bruce Wood Dance make up the core of the professional scene here. They are joined by 8-10 smaller, extremely active ensembles and all of this is backed up and supported by a host of professional level schools and academies. What is lacking is a broader awareness of this reality and that has become the central focus of my work.

For the past year and half I have worked exclusively with professional company dancers within the Dallas & Fort Worth community. I ask them to come to my studio because that is where I can exert the greatest control. Our collective purpose in these sessions is to create imagery that transcends the traditional boundaries of dance photography. The greater goal however is to create awareness on a broader scale of the incredible level of talent that exists here. I am calling this project TranscenDance and my great desire is to see it’s imagery grace the pages of a coffee table book and the walls of galleries across the country.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first started this project I naively thought that I would reach out to the dance companies, tell them about my background and then be instantly embraced by their leaders. That of course, did not happen. So… I had to take a step back and revise my approach. I did have connections to a few dancers, so I reached out to them and asked if they might visit me in the studio. They did and the resulting images were wonderful. That success enabled me to then connect with a few of their peers. I pursued this grass roots, person to person approach relentlessly and within about six months, had photographed a majority of the dancers in many of the top companies. Those dancers then began to encourage their creative directors to connect with me and I have now been hired to shoot for Dallas Black Dance Theatre & Bruce Wood Dance in Dallas and the New Orleans Ballet Theater in Louisiana.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One of the amazing things I did last year was attend the Meeting Place portfolio reviews at FotoFest in Houston. I had been aware of FotoFest for many years, but never attended. The Meeting Place is a special event within the festival. You have to apply to get in and if you make it, you then get one on one access to a broad array of movers and shakers within the world of photography. Over a three day period, I met with museum curators, gallery owners, collectors and art directors from all over the world. Connecting with these individuals and hearing their take on my dance portfolio was invaluable.       

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kentbarkerdance.com
• Instagram: @kent.barker

Image Credits
©Kent Barker 2023