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by Stanley B. Burns, 124 pp, with illus, in slipcase, $95, ISBN 0-9748688-9-2, New York, NY, Burns Archive, sponsored by Doak Dermatologics, 2005.

JAMA. 2006;295:1453-1454.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" epitomizes this magnificent excursion into the world of medical illustration. Ophthalmologist Stanley Burns has been a scholar of medical photography for more than three decades. What began as a hobby developed into the foremost collection of medical photography, the Burns Archive. The four volumes of this latest published collection from the archive present outstanding items that depict skin diseases as seen in publications of a century or more ago.

Burn's conception, outlined in the preface, deserves reflection:

Over the decades, I have learned that art matters. Art elevates and stimulates us to see things differently. Art creates a different perspective and point of view. When medical photographs are presented to the public, the images are viewed and conceived in terms of personal mortality, human fragility and the vagaries of life. Terror and fascination draw the public into dialogue with these images. . . . [Full Text of this Article]