After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2011 which raised over $40,000, Jason Landry at Panopticon Gallery teamed up with Nazraeli Press to publish Harold Feinstein | A Retrospective, Feinstein’s first-ever monograph of his classic black-and-white photographs. As Landry states, “Harold (who is now 81) would say to me, I’ve been waiting for a book of this work since I was 15 years old. When he said it, I knew he meant it, and I had to figure out a way to deliver it.”
Feinstein was born in Coney Island in 1931, and would often say that he fell out of his mother’s womb onto the beach on Coney Island with a Nathan’s Hot Dog in his hand and the sounds of kids screaming on The Cyclone in his ears.
He began his career in photography in 1946 at the age of 15 and within four years, Edward Steichen had purchased his work for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Feinstein joined the Photo League at 17 and became a prominent figure in the vanguard of New York City’s street photography scene, exhibiting his work at Helen Gee’s Limelight Gallery.
Over the years, Feinstein taught classes and workshops, telling his students, “When your mouth drops open…click the shutter.”
—Courtesy Panopticon Gallery
Absolutely wonderful photos! As a native New Yorker who grew up in the Bronx in the 50´s, I can identify with these images so well… made my day and sent me on a google search for more of his work!
Harold Feinstein’s new website: http://www.haroldfeinstein.com
Great set of images here. Really solid NYC street set.