A Rare Look at Iconic News Photos Along With Original Editors’ Notes

by · Peta Pixel
Robert H. Jackson, Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President Kennedy, shot by Jack Rudy in Dallas police headquarters, November 24, 1963. Gelatin silver print; printed 1966, 8 5/8 x 6 1/8 in.

A fascinating collection of iconic photos printed for newspapers complete with original editors’ notes has gone on exhibit in New York.

The prints show a wide range of historical and newsworthy events like the suffragist movement, the detonation of the atomic bomb, and the Vietnam War among many other events.

But just as interesting are the notes on the back of the prints from editors debating on the ethics of the photo such as Saigon Execution taken by AP photographer Eddie Adams. A note on the back of the brutal photo asks: “Too violent?”

Eddie Adans, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, the national police chief of South Vietnam, executed a Viet Cong fighter, Nguyen Van Lem, in Saigon, February 1, 1968. Gelatin silver print; printed 1969, 6 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches, Annotation in ink, notation in pencil and typed caption on print recto. Notations in pencil and ink and stamps with typed captions on labels affixed to print verso.
Photographer Unknown, Amelia Earhart, 1928. Gelatin silver print; printed 1928, 9 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. Annotations and notations in pencil with stamps on print verso.
Photographer Unknown, The atom bomb as it exploded during the test at Bikini, 1946. Gelatin silver print; printed 1946, 13 x 8 3/8 in. Annotations and notations in pencil and stamps with typed captions on labels affixed to print verso.

The prints in the exhibit are “far from pristine” because they have been handled and contain artifacts associated with a 20th-century newsroom such as crop lines, grease pencil markings, date stamps, credit information, and other background notes.

The collection of almost 250 prints was assembled by Dan Solomon and Howard Greenberg. Solomon’s association with the prints are thanks to his work digitizing the archives of publications like The New York Times, Time-Life, and The San Francisco Examiner.

Photographer Unknown, Patricia Hearst posing while with Symbionese Liberation Army, April 3, 1974. Gelatin silver print; printed 1974, 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. Annotation in ink and typed caption on print recto. Annotations in pencil and ink, notations in ink and stamps with typed captions on labels affixed to print verso.
Roger Bannister running the first four-minute mile.
Photographer Unknown, The Beatles and Muhammad Ali, February 18, 1964. Gelatin silver print; printed 1964, 5 3/4 x 9 3/8 inches. Notations in pencil and typed caption on print verso. Annotations in pencil, notations in pencil and ink and stamps with typed captions on labels affixed to print verso.

Solomon was initially inspired by the shocking 1963 image of a self-immolating monk in Saigon by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Malcolm Browne. Solomon turned over a print of the iconic image and noticed numerous stamps and information on the back.

“The print had a presence and the aura of a powerful object connected to history and the dissemination of information. I immediately asked how I could see more,” Solomon says in a press release.

“This collection of iconic images includes many rare and important prints and is distinguished from all others,” adds Howard Greenberg. “We had the good fortune to be able to acquire important first and second generation ‘press’ prints at a time when certain archives were beginning to sell photos from their files.”

Extra! Extra!: News Photographs from 1903-1975 is on now at the Howard Greenberg Gallery in Manhattan until November 16.