Today we’d like to introduce you to Kent Barker.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My first artistic love was dance. I started taking lessons at the age of six and ended up going to the Joffrey Ballet in NYC as a scholarship student the day after graduating from high school. Six months later a knee injury ended that dream… so I returned to Florida (where I grew up) and enrolled in college. A girlfriend was taking a photo class and introduced me to the darkroom. I still remember how excited I was watching her images emerge in the developer! Something told me right then and there, that this is what I would spend the rest of my life pursuing. I enrolled in the fine art/photo program the very next day and have been a passionate photographer ever since.
Please tell us about your art.
As a young photographer, I was greatly inspired by the work of Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. Both created fashion imagery and portraits for magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, etc. As my own vision began to emerge, I realized that it was portraiture that truly spoke to me and so that is what I have explored for the past number of decades. Editorial portraiture has been my greatest love and I have been extremely fortunate to work for magazines such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, Town & Country, Outside, Texas Monthly, etc. Magazine work allows for a good deal of creative expression, but it doesn’t pay that much. So…to support my family I have also been a long time advertising and corporate shooter. My dad was the creative director of an advertising agency, so I have pretty much grown up in that business.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
In the film era, photographers used to meet at the lab where their film was being processed. It was a wonderful aspect of the medium because it also fostered a sense of community. In the digital age however, photographers spend long hours by themselves in front of the computer. I combat this by attending art events as much as is possible. Gallery openings, theater, dance, film, author lectures, you name it. All provide camaraderie and inspiration.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
In the last number of years I have focused my attention on corporate portraiture. My clients are high end executives in real estate, law, health care, finance, etc. As such, the work is seen primarily on websites, in advertising and in promotional material. I also work on a contractual basis with Dallas Modern Luxury Magazine. For the last few years, I’ve been working on a personal project entitled “The Creatives”. It is a black & white portrait series that looks at a wide cross section of creative individuals within the Dallas/Ft. Worth community. An announcement for that exhibition will appear in the December issue of Modern Luxury.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1409 South Lamar St.
#645
Dallas, Texas 75215 - Website: http://www.kentbarker.com
- Phone: 214-991-1314
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/kent.barker
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