Thelma Kent

Thelma Rene Kent (21 October 1899 – 23 June 1946) was a New Zealand photographer.^[1]

Thelma Kent
Self-portrait panning for gold in the Arawhata River, Westland, 1939
Born	Thelma Rene Kent (1899-10-21)21 October 1899 Christchurch, New Zealand
Died	23 June 1946(1946-06-23) (aged 46) Christchurch, New Zealand
Known for	Photography

Biography

Kent was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 21 October 1899. She attended Addington School and Christchurch Technical College.^[1]

She traveled around New Zealand by car, horseback and foot to find photographic subjects. She had an affinity for the New Zealand landscape, with a particular interest in the South Island high country. Around 1937, Kent met the legendary Arawata Bill (William O’Leary) and took several photographs of him, which have been regularly reproduced.^[1]

Her photographs and articles were published in the Auckland Weekly News, the New Zealand Railways Magazine,^[2]the Australasian Photo-Review and in the British annual Photograms of the Year 1939.^[1][3]

From 1939 until 1941 she did a series of Saturday evening talks on Christchurch radio station 3YA on photography topics.^[3]

Through experimentation, Kent became adept at microphotography.^[1] In this field she did work for the organisations such as the Canterbury Museum, Cawthron Institute, and the Pathology Department at Christchurch Hospital.^[3]

Kent never married and died at the age of 46 in Christchurch on 23 June 1946.^[2]

Legacy

Her collection of negatives and prints is held by the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.^[1][3]

In 2017, Kent was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.^[4]