Where Community, Photography, and Technology Meet

Michael Kent’s triple threat skillset

By Brighid Driscoll | May 11, 2024

 

Michael Kent is a Traverse City-raised photographer…and one of at least three well-known Michael Kents in TC. (His dad is also MK, as is another local photographer, which doesn’t make things confusing at all!) A friend to many, he’s made his mark with community-building efforts in the area.

“That rapid rapport, that ‘golden retriever’ or ‘camp counselor’ energy is the trick” to his ability to make friends and influence people, he says with a laugh. “Because I’m just so genuinely happy to see everybody.”

We sat down with Kent over coffee to talk about his work in TC out in the community, behind the camera, and—somewhat surprisingly—in front of the computer screen.

Looking Lens Self

For Kent, photography has always been more than just a hobby or a job.

“All of my childhood memories, if I think about them closely, are in third person,” Kent tells us over coffee. Recently, he discovered he has Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory (SDAM). “I have an inability to record memories in first person, which means that this”—he holds up his camera—“becomes really valuable.”

Kent uses photos to keep a running timeline of his life and memories. His first camera, a Sony Powershot, became an extra limb. Through middle and high school, Kent captured photos of his friends. “I always had it with me, and I took pictures of important and silly things. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I took a lot of pride in my friends having my pictures as profile pictures.” 

The photos were never formal or posed, just candid clips of their everyday world. A few semesters and photo classes at Northwestern Michigan College led him to Central Michigan University. There, he entered the fine arts program and continued taking photography classes. 

After graduating and moving home, Kent started a photography business he runs alongside spouse Brooke Allen: Allen Kent Photography. What began as a business specializing in senior portraits has grown into a mini photography empire with international reach. The duo bill their services as “emotionally honest and compassionate photography for all good humans” and have traveled around the country and the world for weddings, family portraits, and more.

Learn more about Allen Kent Photography at allen-kentphotography.com.

Creative Birthright

Another one of Kent's efforts is Photo Club, a free, local community of photographers of all skill levels that Kent mentors.

In 2019, Kent was regularly attending photography networking events that focused on technical and business-related aspects of being a photographer. “But it was always sitting in a room and talking about it and never going out and doing it. And so one day, I said screw it, I’m going to grab a bunch of people to go out and shoot. We went to DeYoung Natural Area, and I didn’t overthink it. People were asking questions, and I could give subtle instruction, and people had a great time.”

Today, Photo Club consists of photo walks every other month, where the group meets to wander around and take photos. As few as four and more than 40 have shown up to any given event. In the alternating months, the group meets up for social events.

“[A recent] month was social, and we met at Hop Lot,” Kent says. “You don’t have to bring a camera, but you can. And we talked about photography, not photography, creativity, and all sorts of things.”

Creativity can be perceived as a precious gift only given to a few, but Kent doesn’t subscribe to this belief.

“I think it’s BS that I get to call myself creative, and my mother will say, ‘Oh, I’m just not creative like you.’ Nobody is not creative. It is our birthright as human beings to have our creativity. It’s what separates us from computers—Artificial Intelligence is not creative. I can teach you tricks for coming up with ideas, and in a year, you’ll be as creative as me.”

In addition to the photo walks and socials, Kent offers photography workshops for purchase. The workshops are held in his personal studio and are meant to provide more in-depth instruction and one-on-one time.

Learn more about Photo Club at ourphotoclub.co.

Left-Brain Learning

In building the business, Kent had to learn a few things—a lot of things—along the way. Photography, though largely artistic, also requires technical abilities. Operating a camera, editing, and storing photos are all skills a successful photographer needs. The technical aspects of the job never bothered Kent, however.

“I grew up wanting to take apart my parents’ TVs and computers because I wanted to know how they work,” he says.

That was the brainchild behind his newly launched side hustle, Help Desk Studio, where Kent exercises some of his left-brain talent as a service for entrepreneurs and small businesses. “It’s not a community—it’s not like Photo Club,” he explains. “But I want to take what I’ve done for photographers and open that up to small businesses and entrepreneurs.”

Common questions that Help Desk Studio clients ask are about archiving, backing up computers, hardware questions, SEO techniques, optimizing your Zoom setup, and more. He also has a self-directed course that teaches people how to create captivating video content and live streams.

“I’ve also built this course so that someone can just go to our website, purchase this course, and leave with the skills to know what lighting is good, so they know why a good microphone is more important than a good camera. It’s a big help for that kind of content creation.”

Learn more about Help Desk Support at ourhelpdeskstudio.com.

Pictured: A Photo Club meet up. Photo by Allen Kent Photography.