After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan in 1969 with a BA in English and Art History, Richard Holden joined a group of photographers from Saskatoon that founded the Photographers Gallery in 1972. This was one of the first cooperative galleries to be devoted exclusively to photography.

Since he first became involved in photography, Holden has explored the relationships that exist between the natural landscape and the environment created by man. His experiments in black and white demonstrated a calculated severity in their juxtaposition of natural elements and manufactured objects. Through the use of the Cibachrome process, Holden introduced colour into his visual universe, creating new juxtapositions. His use of his panoramic camera allows him to include in a larger space disparate elements which are normally outside our field of vision, and so create collages in which natural components, urban landscapes, colours, textures and forms constitute a sum of information to be deciphered.

Richard Holden's works have been exhibited many times in Canada and abroad and can be found in a number of public and private collections.