Roy A. Bell was born on November 29, 1912 in Blackfoot, Idaho and died on February 17, 2008 in Issaquah, Washington. He graduated with an art degree from the University of Idaho in 1938 after attending two years at the University of Idaho, Southern Branch at Pocatello (now Idaho State University). After serving in the military for five years before and during WWII, he was discharged from active duty in 1945. Returning home to Blackfoot, Idaho, he opened a photography studio that operated from 1946-1950. In 1950, he became a faculty member at the University of Idaho and established the photography department, teaching photography classes and operating the photo lab. He earned a master's degree in photography at the University of Idaho in 1954. It is unclear exactly what year he retired from the University of Idaho but him and his wife moved to Monroe, Washington in 1987 and moved to Issaquah, Washington in 2005.

In his personal life, Bell was married to his wife Norma Anna Bell for over 61 years. Norma died in August 2006. They were lifelong members of the Methodist church and participated in churches in Blackfoot and Moscow, Idaho and in Monroe, Washington. Together, they shared three children.