For years, David Drebin has created iconic images—cinematic, seductive, and emotionally charged—that hang in galleries and private collections across the globe.
His photographs invite viewers into worlds of beauty and mystery, offering a glimpse into stories just beyond the frame. But with Hidden Stars, Drebin steps out from behind the camera—and the frame disappears entirely.
In Hidden Stars, there are no photographs. The image is gone. Instead, the public becomes the art. The experience becomes the medium. The connection becomes the work.
Every Saturday in September, Drebin sets up a simple stage in the middle of New York City with just a handwritten cardboard sign that reads:
Free Readings (Who You Really Are)
#HiddenStars
What follows is part performance, part confession, part transformation. A live, unscripted exchange between one of the world’s most recognized visual artists and complete strangers who feel drawn to step forward. No appointments. No plan. Just raw presence.
This is performance without performance.
No costume. No character. No script.
Drebin calls it “the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever done.” And perhaps that’s because for the first time in his career, he’s not curating or composing a moment—he’s living inside of it. No edits. No second takes. Only what happens in real time, between two people who may never meet again.
In a world obsessed with image, Hidden Stars is about something deeper: energy, attention, and the courage to be seen. It’s an unfiltered encounter with the human spirit—both his and yours.
For the artist who made his name photographing larger-than-life fantasies, this new work marks a radical shift:
He’s no longer behind the lens.
He is the lens.
And for anyone who steps forward, even for a moment, the result can be unforgettable.
Because in a city of millions, Hidden Stars dares to ask:
What if someone actually sees you?