Born in Storm Lake, Iowa, Kent’s family moved to Arizona when he was five years old. A 1977 graduate of Phoenix Central High School, Kent worked at several Arizona newspapers both as a staff photographer and photo editor. In 1984, he married Deborah Shanahan, a reporter for the Arizona Republic. Their daughter Alison was born in 1988. In 1990, they moved their family to Omaha, Nebraska. Their son, Nathan was born in 1991. For ten years Kent worked as a commercial and editorial freelancer, building a thriving business before taking a staff photographer position at the Omaha World-Herald, where he still works today.