Born on February 22, 1955, Mark Richards spent his childhood in southern California. At seventeen, he joined the Navy and was sent to Vietnam. After leaving the Navy, he got his Bachelors degree in international relations from San Francisco State University. In 1983, he traveled to Burma to document the civil war tearing up the country. After spending two months in Burma, he went on to document the wars in Cambodia, the refugee camps in Thailand, and the war with the Soviets in Afghanistan.

After a short stint working for newspapers, Mark joined the photojournalism magazine world. He went on to photograph the Russian veterans of Afghanistan, the crisis in Haiti, and the journey of the tuna industry from the fishing boats in the United States to sushi restaurants in Japan. After moving to San Francisco, Mark became entrenched in documenting the technology industry in Silicon Valley. Documenting technology led him to see computers in a new light, not only as technology but also as statements of art and history. This naturally lent itself to the creation of his first book, Core Memory (Chronicle Books 2007), an award-winning, critically acclaimed display of the hidden art and history of technology. He is currently working on a book dedicated to the mountain he lives below, a gritty portrayal of the beauty of trail running on Mount Tamalpais.

He is the recipient of over fourteen awards from Communication Arts and his work has been shown at the San Jose Art Museum and the Computer History Museum.