sa国际传媒官网网页入口

When a story resonates with Faith Perez, that鈥檚 when the research begins.

For her latest documentary, Perez delved into the life of former sa国际传媒官网网页入口 resident Dick Kent.

鈥淭hrough His Eyes: WWII Photographer Dick Kent鈥� will air at 9 p.m. Monday, May 25, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. It will also be available to stream on the PBS app.

鈥淭hrough His Eyes鈥� tells the story of Kent, who spent years photographing soldiers during World War II.

Kent documented the war鈥檚 horrors, including D-Day, the liberation of Paris, and the atrocities at Dachau concentration camp in Germany. The documenting of his wartime experiences and historical moments has led to a catalog of more than 100,000 photographs.

Perez says Kent was initially sympathetic to German prisoners, but his outlook hardened as he witnessed the war鈥檚 brutality.

鈥淲hen I got the archival material, it was difficult to put the footage together,鈥� says Perez, who is also a producer for the PBS show 鈥淐olores.鈥� 鈥淲e had his photos and were matching it up to actual video. Even though it was a difficult process, it was fun to find those photos because it鈥檚 a piece of history I don鈥檛 think anyone has seen before.鈥�

Perez began working on the first interview in August and finished the documentary earlier this year.

Interviewing Kent鈥檚 sons, Perez learned that he was raised in Ohio, where he was active in the YMCA and had an interest in religion.

鈥淗e thought he was probably going to go into the ministry. He went to Oberlin College, which is a small college in Ohio, and enjoyed learning how big the world was,鈥� his sons say. 鈥淗e was patriotic in the sense that when the war started, he felt like he needed to join the Army, and so he did. In his r茅sum茅 of applying to the Army, he indicated some interest in photography, and Col. (George) Stevens came through looking for photographers to join a special unit that he was forming.鈥�

According to PBS, this crew 鈥� dubbed 鈥淪tevens鈥� Irregulars鈥� 鈥� followed closely behind the men on the front lines, shooting a visual history of the war in a way never before achieved.

The group assembled 304 minutes of color footage, and 54 minutes of silent black-and-white footage during its time on the ground.

鈥淭here were photos that we came across that we wouldn鈥檛 be able to put in this film,鈥� Perez says. 鈥淢any of these photos have never been seen by an audience. I connected with this story because it鈥檚 such an important part of history.鈥�

Post-war, Kent and his wife moved to sa国际传媒官网网页入口, after visiting an Army friend.

Kent became an entrepreneurial photographer, documenting the city鈥檚 growth from a quiet post-war town into a thriving modern city and promoting local events like hot air ballooning. He photographed areas of the city annually and even photographed sa国际传媒官网网页入口 from a plane.

Kent found a job at KOB-TV for a while and then started his own business as a commercial photographer. Kent died October 13th, 1988, at his home in Corrales.

The film is set to air on Memorial Day and Perez hopes there鈥檚 a chance for the audience to understand Kent鈥檚 life and contribution to the world.

鈥淚 feel and hope that people come away with a human side of the history and he photographed the horror and the humanity of it,鈥� Perez says. 鈥淚 want audiences to come away with a better understanding. For this generation to understand what this war is, because we aren鈥檛 far removed from it. It鈥檚 shocking to see through his eyes what it was and it makes me think about war today.鈥�

Adrian Gomez is a freelance writer for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. He works for the New Mexico Film Office, focusing on industry research.