News Art | Manipulated Photographs from the Burns Archive

“News Art: Manipulated Photographs from the Burns Archive presents the unexplored visual history of the melding of art, photography, and journalism. It is the first work to document the fascinating combination of art and photography necessary to achieve accurate copy or story emphasis in newspapers. These images from 1900–1960 illustrate the range of art enhancement—from simple outlining or airbrushing to complete overpainting. They are all individual creations, one-of-akind photographs. Even if other newspapers used a copy of the same photograph, as was often the case, the artistic preparation was unique. The subjects are as varied as our world: crime scenes, world events, social and business personalities, and human interest stories. All were important in their time and some stand as timeless icons.”

The book is written by Stanley D. Burns, MD, a New York City opthalmic surgeon and noted photography historian, and Sara Cleary-Burns. It will release in January from Powerhouse.

Images from News Art after the jump.