Kai McBride | Off Grid

Kai McBride is a photographer, teacher, musician, and maker who recently uprooted from Brooklyn to sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico. He spent 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 twenty foot teepee in the field of a commune.

In 2021, Kai and Corn Wagon Thunder finished creating a small off-grid cabin on a mesa east of downtown Santa Fe which he named ATARAXIA. Solar power. Captured rainwater. Built with their own two hands. In 2025, they completed constructing a small art studio building on the property.

To make ends meet, he teaches photography classes online for StrudelmediaLive and can be found behind the counter at photo-eye santa fe three days a week.

https://kaimcbride.com

https://bsky.app/profile/kaimcbride.com

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