News Photo Back Views

 
Author Marc Fischer
Publisher Public Collectors

“Before photographers transmitted photos to their editors digitally, hard copy darkroom prints were used. The backs of these printed photos frequently have various handwritten or rubber-stamped credits and notes from the photographer or newspaper staff, written directly on the photos, or on forms that have been adhered to the surface. If the photo was used in an article, sometimes a slice of the article or caption will be mounted on the back. If one photo was used on many different dates, the photo may be stamped repeatedly to indicate when it was published.

The data-rich photo back views in this booklet have accrued information in many collaborative ways. The person that rubber stamped the dates may not be the same person that took the photo, or the worker that clipped the caption that was ultimately used in print. Notes are written and scribbled over, and many photos feature various number stickers and codes that may have come later in life for these objects. I hope others will find these traces of editing and newspaper production history as interesting as I do. I’ll end with a note that I mainly chose these photos based on their visual qualities rather than their subjects, but readers should know that some photos feature strong descriptions of violence that you may not want to read while looking at the other elements.“

“For this publication, I’ve turned my focus to the backs of the photos, which I sometimes find more compelling than the images on the front. The aesthetics of these compositionally complicated objects remind me of drawings that the artist Robert Rauschenberg made with newspaper photo solvent transfers, or works by Cy Twombly where sheets of white paper are activated with expressively copied poetry, asemic writing, oil crayon marks, and bits of color.”

Softcover
10 x 8 inches
22 Pages
2025