Kent Lacin finds joy in many places. Behind a camera. Drawing or writing with a new fountain pen. Jamming on jazz piano. Teaching college students. Making films.
“I never felt like I worked a day in my life, I had so much fun,” he says. “I did so many wonderful things and met so many wonderful people, it was a dream.”
Lacin retired four years ago after a decades-long career as owner of Kent Lacin Media Services. But that’s a small part of his story.
Growing up in Arden Park, Lacin loved to draw and play the piano. His parents gave him a Pentax camera at age 8, and he loved that, too. But since neither parent had a background in the arts, Lacin thought of art as a hobby, not a career.
In 1967, everything changed. The summer after freshman year at Claremont McKenna College, Lacin hitchhiked around Europe. “A little voice in my head kept whispering, ‘Be an artist,’” he says. Lacin changed his major to art and dove into the jazz scene.
He transferred to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland in 1968 and got “totally addicted” to street photography.
“I’d get my camera, put some Tri-X (film) in it and go out and shoot two to three rolls,” Lacin says. “The camera was an excuse to go places—and I was pretty aggressive about going places.”
When his father fell ill, he returned to Sacramento to help his mother and finished his degree at Sacramento State. He pursued a master of fine arts degree at UC Davis, continued his photography and made films with friends, some of which found distribution.
A job at the Center for Instructional Media followed, where Lacin taught college students how to make instructional material.
“Our boss let us do anything we wanted,” Lacin recalls. “We were using film, still photography, multi-image slideshows. Those graduates ended up populating the Sacramento media scene for 20 years.”
When a friend started a media company, he asked Lacin to make marketing movies for clients, including Seagram’s and the American Banking Association. Lacin branched out on his own in 1979.
“I never thought I’d be a commercial photographer and take pictures for other people,” Lacin says. “But I didn’t know how else I’d make a living, though it was glamorous to be poor back then.”
His media company took off. He was so busy with commercial work and personal photography that his love of jazz piano was overlooked.
These days, Lacin practices piano two to three hours daily—a mediation of sorts. With practice came confidence. Now he jams around town.
“The trick is for it not to be competitive,” Lacin says. “To be an artist, you have to be generous. You can’t do art and be chintzy. You have to find a way to unlock that generosity. It’s a metaphor for life: you should try to make your life beautiful in the same way you try to make music beautiful.”
When not playing, Lacin photographs friends and volunteers his photography and video skills for nonprofits, including Volunteers of America, WIND Youth Services and climate advocacy group 350 Sacramento.
“I’m trying to prove an old dog can learn new tricks,” he says. “It’s a practice in staying open, being positive, supporting a group and being humble. It’s such a dynamic way to experience life’s lessons.”
For information, visit lacin.com.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
