Today we’d like to introduce you to Eve Greenberg.
Hi Eve, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My relationship with photography was first born when I was thirteen during a photography elective in Hawaii. Living there, I would have my mom take me on long drives so I could photograph the natural landscaping in all its natural glory and beautiful lighting. Even back then, I had an innate knack for composition and genuinely loved the small adventures required to get the perfect shot. At seventeen, I revisited photography to help lift my spirits, once again going on drives with my mom throughout the back roads of wine country in Sonoma County, where stunning landscapes were always waiting to be captured.
My journey into natural-light portrait photography truly began when I moved to Oakland, California in 2017 at the age of nineteen. That fall, I took my first portrait on campus at City College of San Francisco on Ocean Avenue. Standing right outside the LGBT Center was the most striking man I had ever seen; I simply asked if I could take his photo, and to my surprise, he agreed and happened to already be a working model. Ever since that afternoon, I have focused on capturing portraits of friends, strangers who soon became friends, and fellow creatives I reached out to collaborate with.
From project to project, I built a strong body of portraiture, which led to my first major breakthrough in 2020: my work was published in Create! Magazine and exhibited physically through SOMArts in collaboration with the African American Art & Culture Complex in San Francisco. That same year, I also photographed two campaigns for Olipop. A sudden change in direction subsequently brought me to Nashville, Tennessee, where I lived for five years, focusing on special projects and collaborating with local independent artists. In 2023, inspired by a mentorship through Creative Futures Collective in partnership with Soho House, I founded a fine arts collective bringing together independent photographers, painters, sculptors, and fashion designers for an annual showcase at Soho House Nashville.
Through that collective work, I realized that my photography has the power to build real community—bringing everyday people who have never stood in front of a lens into public spaces, museums, and exclusive venues where they can be admired. Now living in New York City, that ethos has culminated in my current work hosting pop-up photography sessions in Central Park. I consider myself a photographer of the people and the natural landscapes surrounding us, reflecting the idea that we are fundamentally connected to nature, each in our own individual way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Early on, I struggled significantly with self-confidence as an artist. Reaching out to potential collaborators felt daunting because the fear of rejection weighed heavily on me. Over time, I came to understand that rejection is simply a natural part of the creative process. More often than not, people are genuinely enthusiastic and eager to work together. Navigating that fear and learning to put myself forward has ultimately become one of the most transformative forms of emotional growth in my artistic journey.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a professional natural-lighting photographer, every session is a direct dialogue with the sun—or the absence of it. Timing is everything: the angle of the sun dictates the quality of light and the placement of shadows across a subject’s features, where even a slight shift in altitude can alter the entire mood of an image. Because of this, I generally work within a two-hour window either first thing in the morning or late in the day. These sessions center around golden hour—capturing the warm glow alongside the hour that follows sunrise or the hour leading into sunset. That said, some of my favorite and most evocative portraits have been made during the quiet blue hours of early dawn and dusk, when the light turns cool, soft, and beautifully atmospheric.
What truly sets my work apart is how people feel in front of my lens. Stepping before a camera can feel vulnerable and awkward, especially for first-timers, which is why the most common feedback I receive is about the lightness, ease, and comfort of our sessions. Because we often shoot in open, public spaces with passersby and traffic around us, I am intentional about cultivating an environment that feels both grounded and serene. I keep a playlist flowing, and offer continuous positive reinforcement throughout the shoot. That steady encouragement eases self-consciousness, builds genuine confidence, and transforms what could be a stressful experience into a moment where my subjects feel completely relaxed, radiant, and happy in their own skin.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I appreciated most about Nashville was that it genuinely functions like an oversized town. Despite being called a city, a small cluster of high-rises quickly gives way to sprawling suburban pockets. That scale makes it an ideal landing ground for people arriving from smaller places to connect, collaborate, and find their footing. It holds a vibrant community of artists and creatives who are deeply invested in making artwork, learning from one another, and building together.
After five years, however, that intimacy began to feel restrictive. That shifting sense of space—coupled with pursuing my higher education—prompted my move to New York. Arriving here gave me the creative bandwidth I needed to evolve alongside a dynamic, expansive arts community operating on an entirely different scale. Trading a pond for an ocean is undeniably daunting, but the breadth of perspective and creative possibility feels limitless.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://oaklandoutlook.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oaklandoutlook/
