{{Short description|New Zealand photographer (1899–1946)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox artist | name = Thelma Kent | image = Thelma Rene Kent 1939.jpg | alt = | caption = Self-portrait panning for gold in the Arawhata River, Westland, 1939 | birth_name = Thelma Rene Kent | birth_date = {{birth date|1899|10|21|df=y}} | birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand | death_date = {{death date and age|1946|6|23|1899|10|21|df=y}} | death_place = Christchurch, New Zealand | education = Christchurch Technical College | field = Photography | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = }} '''Thelma Rene Kent''' (21 October 1899 &ndash; 23 June 1946) was a New Zealand photographer.<ref name="TeAra">{{DNZB |title=Kent, Thelma Rene |first=Joan|last=McCracken |id=4k9 |accessdate=15 January 2018}}</ref>

==Biography== Kent was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 21 October 1899. She attended Addington School and Christchurch Technical College.<ref name="TeAra"/>

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.<ref name="TeAra"/>

Her photographs and articles were published in the ''Auckland Weekly News,'' the ''New Zealand Railways Magazine,''<ref name="nzhistory">{{cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/thelma-kent|title=Thelma Kent: Biography|website=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage|accessdate=15 January 2018}}</ref>the ''Australasian Photo-Review'' and in the British annual ''Photograms of the Year 1939''.<ref name="TeAra" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Lissa |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1374563763 |title=Through shaded glass: women and photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860-1960 |date=2023 |publisher=Te Papa Press |isbn=978-0-9951384-9-0 |location=Wellington, New Zealand |pages=317-326 |oclc=on1374563763}}</ref>

From 1939 until 1941 she did a series of Saturday evening talks on Christchurch radio station 3YA on photography topics.<ref name=":0" />

Through experimentation, Kent became adept at microphotography.<ref name="TeAra" /> In this field she did work for the organisations such as the Canterbury Museum, Cawthron Institute, and the Pathology Department at Christchurch Hospital.<ref name=":0" />

Kent never married and died at the age of 46 in Christchurch on 23 June 1946.<ref name="nzhistory"/>

==Legacy== Her collection of negatives and prints is held by the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.<ref name="TeAra"/><ref name=":0" />

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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thelma Kent|url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1918-1967/thelma/|access-date=2021-05-10|website=Royal Society Te Apārangi}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/2952/larnachs-castle-photographed-by-thelma-kent A photograph of 'Larnach's Castle' taken by Thelma Kent about 1939.]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Thelma Rene}} Category:1899 births Category:1946 deaths Category:New Zealand photographers Category:Artists from Christchurch Category:20th-century New Zealand women photographers