Spotlight: Tamara R. Reichberg '04

Among the photographs that will be featured in Adams House next weekend for Arts First are images by Tamara R. Reichberg ’04. She has become known in the visual arts community for her travel photography, and has captured Venice, Cuba and the Mississippi Delta on film. Most recently, Reichberg’s photography was exhibited in the fall with 27 prints from an independent project in Fiji.

What makes travel photography more fulfilling for you?

“It isn’t really. I feel like travel photography is easier, because you go there, and all of a sudden all your senses are heightened. You’re taking it in, and you want a narrative of your experience. So in that way, it’s easier, but not necessarily better. I also want to document other things.”

How is Harvard as a community for musicians and artists?

“I feel that it’s been very good. The [Visual and Environmental Studies (VES)] department has been so nice and accepting of me, even though some of its resources are only for concentrators. The VES community provides photographers with so many supplies, which makes it easy. Also, Adams is such a supportive arts community. It’s not competitive at all. Everyone I’ve met are such fantastic photographers and we all get along so well.”

What has been your most exciting project?

“It would be Fiji, because I was here for such a long time, and I was there for Let’s Go so I got to know the country so well. I remember I arrived in the city and they were having this beautiful festival, and I was the only real ‘outsider.’ That whole day was a rush. I was running around barefoot taking all these pictures.”

Describe yourself in three words:

“Optimistic, passionate and sensitive.”

Where will you be in ten years?

“I hope to be the same person I am now, the kind of person that is just fascinated by walking down the street and noticing small attractions between people. And I hope that’s what I’ll be capturing in my photography.”

What has been your most fulfilling academic experience?

“Writing my junior paper for history and literature. It was on the cathedral and its historical context. I met all these different professors, and I’ve never felt so ‘academic’ before.”

What is one moment you would like to relive from the past three years?

“It would probably this day while working for Let’s Go. I was in the rainforest and there was this swarm of butterflies that happens only once a year. The sky was filled with the most beautiful colors.”

What would you consider to be your biggest quirk?

“Either that I laugh at random times, or I dance at random times. I can’t really seem to hide it when I’m really happy.”

Do you have any heroes?

“Everyone I know and love is a hero to me in different ways, but especially my mother. If I have to pick from the famous crew, it would be Martin Luther King Jr., Gabriel Garcia Marquez and photographer Diane Arbus. She’s amazing.”

What is the most inspiring locale on campus?

“For me, looking out the window of the Sert Gallery Café in the Carpenter Center. It’s this platform that drops off into the rest of Harvard basically.”