"In love with literature—as a means to revealing secret signs in life—[Roberta Fineberg] knows how to see a facial expression, her subjects' gestures, and their relationship to light, time, and space. She knows how to see and make others see.

“Through portraits, the photographer writes with her eye, applying her sensibility, culture, and imagination to depict the faces of her subjects..."

—Georges-Emmanuel Clancier,
poet and former president of the Writers' House, Paris

	Paris rooftops

Reviews, Press, and Comments (4 mb)

People and Places (500 kb)

The collections come from my extensive archive of photographs shot in the United States, France, and Russia. I hope that you enjoy them, as I have enjoyed the adventure of photographing each new subject.

People especially fascinate me. As a photographer, my passion lies in capturing details—expressions, gestures, attitudes, and physical appearance—all the qualities that make each person distinctive. As in literature, setting and dialogue characterize a photograph, as does the sum of many subtle details, more than the eye or brain perceives in fleeting moments. Through photography, I reveal who people are and what's on their minds. Whether my subjects are children, women, or men, I search through the camera lens for a story…and attempt to defy the ephemeral.

Photographing places—street scenes, skylines, or landscapes—is as complex as making portraits. Buildings and environments are imbued with meanings and intentions. When looking through my camera viewfinder I search for subtle, sometimes elusive qualities—abstract forms, aesthetic compositions, unpredictable contrasts, and enlivening movement (the alchemy of people coming into contact with place). What I focus on capturing, regardless of the subjects, are moods and feelings, mystery and drama, and the stories that inhabit both people and places.

Assignments

I have created many of my own assignments over the past twenty years. Some of the projects have included travel (in the United States and Russia) and living abroad (in France). For ten years while living in Paris, I photographed women writers—traveling from the U.S. to Russia—and then crisscrossing America (2001-2003) to photograph children playing chess. My recent photographs have been shot in New York City, where I have lived for more than a decade. I approach every shoot as a creative experience. With a deep respect for film and digital photography, I work with clients who appreciate my vision.

My photographs have appeared in publications worldwide such as Paris Match, Le Monde, Ms., and American Girl; featured in periodicals such as Icarus and Soviet Photo Magazine; used as cover art for books and catalogs in the publishing industry—W. W. Norton, Harcourt, Simon & Schuster, St. Martin’s Press and Bookspan. My photographs have also been exhibited in the United States, France, and Russia; and are in the photography collections at the Bibliothèque Nationale and Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand, both in Paris, France.

Thank you for taking the time to peruse my Web site. Enjoy!