Rita Lombardi was born in central Massachusetts, the fourth of six children who grew up without television, making their major group pastime "pretend".
She discovered photography, the perfect combination of feeling and logic, at the age of 15. Lombardi received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and her MFA from The University of Connecticut.

Her work has been exhibited in publications, galleries and museums nationally. She currently resides in lovely, lively, Providence, RI and teaches photography at Assumption College and Quinebaug Valley Community College. When she isn’t making photographs she is probably baking, although the two occasionally overlap.