Harold Feinstein

Harold Feinstein (1931–2015) was an American photographer whose six‑decade career celebrated the grit, joy, and resilience of Coney Island and beyond. Born and raised on the Brooklyn shore, he picked up his first camera at 15 and by 19 counted Edward Steichen among his early champions—Steichen purchased Feinstein’s work for MoMA’s permanent collection. A teenage member of the Photo League, Feinstein emerged as a leading figure in New York street photography, exhibiting at Helen Gee’s Limelight Gallery and later shaping W. Eugene Smith’s famed Jazz Loft as its original resident and layout designer.

Feinstein’s signature body of work captures Coney Island’s boardwalk life—from sun‑bathers and side‑show performers to the timeless pulse of the sea—rendered in richly textured black‑and‑white prints that balance spontaneity with formal grace. Yet his range extended far beyond: as a draftee in the Korean War, he documented soldiers’ daily routines in intimate detail, and throughout his life he produced striking nudes, portraits, street scenes, and still lifes.

His photographs are held by MoMA, the International Center of Photography, George Eastman House, the Jewish Museum, and many other major collections. A prolific contributor to Life, Aperture, The New York Times Magazine, and more, Feinstein was honored in 2011 with the Griffin Museum’s Living Legend Award—cementing his legacy as a photographer who found poetry in every corner of ordinary life.