There are photographs that document a moment—and photographs that become the moment.
For more than five decades, Deborah Feingold has been creating the latter.
Her portraits have captured some of the most recognizable and influential figures of our time: musicians at the height of their careers, writers and artists whose work has shaped culture, political leaders, and personalities who have become part of the collective visual history of America.
Now, Feingold is bringing that remarkable body of work to the Norwell Public Library.
The special exhibition, “Faces of our Time,” curated by independent curator and artist consultant William Houser, will be presented in conjunction with Get Loud at the Library, an evening celebration benefiting the Norwell Public Library Foundation on Saturday, October 3, 2026.
For South Shore audiences, it is an unusual opportunity to encounter the work of a photographer whose career has intersected with some of the most important chapters in contemporary music, entertainment, politics, publishing, and popular culture.
Feingold's subjects include Madonna, Prince, Mick Jagger, James Brown, B.B. King, Bono, Chet Baker, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Gloria Steinem, and Toni Morrison, among many others.
Her portraits are known for extraordinary intimacy. She has an instinctive ability to establish a connection with her subjects, allowing moments of vulnerability, humor, confidence, thoughtfulness, and humanity to emerge. The result is portraiture that transcends celebrity photography.
Feingold discovered her passion for photography at Emerson College, which later evolved into a career that allowed her to work behind the camera with prominent personalities from the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
An early experience teaching photography to incarcerated youth in Boston profoundly influenced her understanding of the camera as a means of communication and self-expression.
After moving to New York City in 1976, she became an important photographic voice within the city's extraordinary music and cultural landscape.
Her photographs have been exhibited internationally and featured in books, collections, and documentaries, including her acclaimed 2014 monograph Music and the PBS special Icon: Music Through the Lens. In 2023, her portrait of Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison became a United States Postal Service Forever Stamp.
The Norwell exhibition will be celebrated with Get Loud at the Library...AGAIN!, giving guests two ways to experience the evening.
The VIP Event, from 4:30–8:00 PM, provides an intimate opportunity to meet Feingold, hear her discuss her career and the stories behind her portraits, preview the exhibition, and enjoy a champagne toast with the artist. VIP guests will also have the first opportunity to view and purchase selected photographs.
At 5:30 PM, the library will open for the main celebration, transforming the library into a lively gathering place for photography, music, food, drinks, and conversation.
At its heart, the evening is about bringing people together. A public library is traditionally a place where people come to encounter ideas, stories, images, and people they might otherwise never experience. Feingold's photographs extend that mission into the visual arts.
For Houser, the exhibition is an opportunity to introduce South Shore audiences to an extraordinary photographer whose work exists at the intersection of art, history, music, celebrity, and human connection.
For the Norwell Public Library Foundation, Get Loud at the Library...AGAIN! provides an opportunity to celebrate the library while raising funds to help sustain and strengthen this essential community resource.
Get Loud at the Library...AGAIN! takes place Saturday, October 3, 2026, at the Norwell Public Library. VIP Event: 4:30–8:00 PM | $75. Main Event: 5:30–8:00 PM | $35. Adults Only. All proceeds benefit the Norwell Public Library Foundation.