Kai McBride
Kai McBride is a photographer, musician, teacher, and avid cyclist who recently uprooted from Brooklyn to sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico. He spent the last ten years teaching photography and managing the photo facilities at Columbia University, his alma mater, where he received an MFA in 2008.
Born on the island of Kauai in 1972, by his 18th birthday Kai had lived in California, Oregon, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Texas, Oahu, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. He sharpened his powers of observation while adjusting to life between suburban ranch-style homes, cabins with no running water, and a 20-foot teepee in the field of a commune.
His photographs have been exhibited in museum and gallery exhibitions, and are held in public and private collections. His first monograph, About Face: Picturing Tampa, was published by SPQR Editions in Fall 2016.
Kai’s Classes
- Kai teaches black and white photography, photobooks, and more for StrudelmediaLive.
- A Quick Dive into Sequencing Photographs: Techniques and Workflow (begins Thursday, August 21, 2025)
- Crafting the Black and White Image with Silver Efex (begins Tuesday, September 9, 2025)This class is sold out, but you can email us to join the wait list.
- Assignment: Monochrome! Analysis, Technique, and Exercises in B&W (begins Monday, October 27, 2025)