Born in New York in 1965, Mitch Kern moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1977. He’s lived and worked in New York, California, New Mexico, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Louisiana, and Alberta—an experience that’s reflected in his work. 

His early work for newspapers and magazines in Texas, Maryland, and Washington DC evolved into a career in mainstream media, and then a full-time teaching career. Exploring themes of identity and belonging in society and nature, his camera became a vehicle for social engagement, a process he deems more important than the picture itself. He's taught at Penn State University, Central Missouri State University, Louisiana Tech University, and since 2006, the Alberta University of the Arts.

With an undergraduate degree in visual art from the University of Maryland and an MFA in Photography from Penn State, his real degree is in finding and  holding onto a sense of belonging, a credential he's earned over a lifetime of traveling with a camera and survival instincts.