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 class was the best. Perfect format and class flow.
—Sheila (New Jersey)
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)
Kai's class was brilliant — he's such a good teacher and I hope he does more classes for you. He was so organized with the content and assignments and he left us with some outstanding resources. Wonderful to have met him and I loved rediscovering Black and White photography. Brought me back to the days as a teen in my parents’ basement, developing my own photos on our washer and dryer!
—Jennifer (Monaco)
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)