About
STANLEY B. BURNS, MD, FACS is an ophthalmologist and Research Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, and Professor of Medical Humanities at New York University: Langone Medical Center. He is an internationally distinguished author, curator, historian, collector, and archivist. In 1975, he began collecting historic photography with an emphasis on unique photographs not available anywhere else. Dr. Burns’s collection of over one million vintage photographs (1840-1950) has been generally recognized as the most important private comprehensive collection of early photography. In 1977, he founded The Burns Archive to share his discoveries, and he began his writing career. Dr. Burns has written 50 photo-historical texts and more than one thousand journal articles, and has curated more than one hundred exhibitions. He consults on feature films, documentaries, and television series. He was the Medical, Historical and Technical Advisor to the HBO/Cinemax series THE KNICK about a New York City hospital in the year 1900, as well as the PBS Civil War series MERCY STREET. When not collecting, Dr. Burns spends his time consulting, lecturing, creating exhibits, and writing books on under-appreciated areas of history and photography.
Featured Work
Picturing Freedom: African Americans & Their Cars, A Photographic History
Picturing Freedom chronicles and celebrates the photographic history of African Americans and their cars by focusing on personal images of the pride and joy of car ownership. Owning a car was a significant life-changing achievement. It offered special freedoms—freedom to travel, freedom to work further from home, freedom to visit family and friends, freedom to avoid Jim Crow laws, and freedom to migrate. The car was unequivocal evidence of Black success and an important symbol of status in a country that had long fought their advancement in every area. Car ownership was purposely and proudly photographed. All of the photographs were taken in Black communities by a family member or a friend and reveal how African Americans represented themselves. Histories of photography, car freedoms, and travel, as well as contributions from legendary photographer Chester Higgins, Jr. and public health advocate Gerald Deas, MD, are included. This 272-page compilation of over 450 unique photographs is an inspiring visual narrative. Picturing Freedom is fiftieth publication from Stanley B. Burns, MD & The Burns Archive.
Other Works
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Setting Sun: Painted Photographs of Meiji Japan
2017
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Mensur & Schmiss: German Dueling Societies
2017
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Stiffs, Skulls & Skeletons: Medical Photography and Symbolism
2015
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Mirror, Mirror: The Burns Collection of Daguerreotypes
2012
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Shooting Soldiers: Civil War Medical Photography by R.B. Bontecou
2011
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Sleeping Beauty III: Memorial Photography, The Children
2011
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News Art: Manipulated Photographs From the Burns Archive
2008
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Deadly Intent: Crime and Punishment
2008
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Seeing Insanity
2007
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Geisha: A Photographic History 1872-1912
2006
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Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement and the Family in Memorial Photography, American & European Traditions
2002
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A Morning's Work: Medical Photographs from the Burns Archive & Collection 1843-1939
1998
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Forgotten Marriage: The Painted Tintype & The Decorative Frame, 1860-1910, A Lost Chapter in American Portraiture
1995
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The Face of Mercy: A Photographic History of Medicine at War
1993
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Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America
1990
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Masterpieces of Medical Photography: Selections from The Burns Archive
1987
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Early Medical Photography in America 1839-1883
1983