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’s classes were terrific.The group was a good mix of levels of experience. I learned a lot, and realized how much I have yet to learn. I was inspired!
—Bob (New York City)
I would like to thank you for a great course! It’s really going to help me move my way forward, although I'm not ready yet to be able to publish a whole book. What made this great was the amount of effort, time and thought you put into it, especially given the short duration. I have enjoyed and learnt a lot from the two courses I have taken with you and I will keep my eye open on Studelmedia for other courses you may be giving.
—Brendan (Mexico City)
I am so glad I signed up for this black and white class. Kai is a wonderful teacher. Not only is he organized, interesting, challenging and creative, but he goes that extra mile to provide us with very helpful handouts and resources! This class is opening up a whole new world to me!
—Barbara (New Jersey)
Thanks, Kai! The class was an enormous learning experience for me. The arc of my understanding between weeks one and four amazed me. I thank you for sharing your encyclopedic knowledge and your methods and I hope we have the chance to experience another class together soon. I can’t wait to get back in the studio to cut and paste. 
—Fran (New York City)