Karen Bell, born in Brooklyn, NY, has been taking photographs since she received her first “Hawkeye” camera. After switching majors from American Government to English at Ohio University, she realized what she wanted to do most was to take pictures. After graduating, she returned to New York City, moved to Manhattan and started her career as a freelance photographer and artist. She studied with Lisette Model and Phillippe Halsmann at The New School and at The International Center of Photography, where she became an intern. After briefly attending Hunter College in pursuit of an MA, she went to The Rhode Island School of Design, where she earned an MFA in Photography.

Having begun to exhibit her photographs prior to attending RISD, Karen returned to New York, began to travel extensively and to exhibit more actively. Her photographs have been exhibited widely throughout the United States, including Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy, NH; A.I.R. Gallery, Rosenberg & Kaufman Fine Arts, Ellis Island Immigration Museum, 55 Mercer Gallery, White Columns, NYC; Santa Fe Center for Photography, The College of New Paltz and RISD. She is in numerous public and private collections including The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The National Park Service Ellis Island Immigration Museum, Pfizer Pharmaceutical, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

She has received grants from The Faculty Technology Development Fund at New School University for a video documentary, The Womens Interart Center, NYC and fellowships to Yaddo and The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

In addition to exhibiting and working as a freelance photographer, Karen has taught or lectured on photography at Seton Hall University, The Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC, RISD, and The New York Studio Program, among other institutions. Currently, she teaches at The New School in New York City.