Vicki Goldberg (born Victoria Hesse Liebson on July 24, 1936, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American photography critic, historian, and author specializing in the history and cultural significance of photography. She earned her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1958 and later completed a master's degree in Art History at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Goldberg established herself as one of the leading authorities on the history of photography in the United States. She wrote extensively on photography for a variety of newspapers and specialized publications while developing a career as a lecturer and researcher focused on the social and cultural impact of photographic images.
In 1986, she published Margaret Bourke-White: A Biography, one of the first comprehensive biographies of the pioneering American photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White. The book was widely praised for its depth of research and historical scholarship. Two years later, she edited Photography in Print: Writings from 1816 to the Present (1988), an influential anthology of key texts on the history and theory of photography. In 1991, she published The Power of Photography: How Photographs Changed Our Lives, which examines the profound influence of photography on politics, culture, science, and society.
By 1998, Goldberg had become internationally recognized as one of the most influential voices in photography criticism and history. Her work combined historical research with cultural analysis, emphasizing the role of photographs as documents capable of shaping public perception and collective memory. In addition to her writing, she was an active lecturer and contributed to projects dedicated to the study and appreciation of photography.