Stanley B. Burns's Blog

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At The Alice Austen House on Staten Island this Sunday, October 26th
Featuring a screening of Zoe Beloff’s Shadowland, a 3D film based on the 1897 autobiography of Elizabeth D’Esperance, a medium who could produce full body apparitions,

stories of Haunted Houses by Corinne May Botz in photographs and recorded oral histories collected from homes across the U.S.,

and a discussion of Stiffs, Skulls & Skeletons: Medical Photography and Symbolism by Dr. Stanley Burns of The Burns Archive. 

Hosted by Paul Moakley, the museum's caretaker and curator, who will recount Alice Austen House ghost stories dating back to the Revolutionary War. 


Refreshments included. Shows begin at 6:00pm and 8pm sharp. 

We hope to see you at this fascinating evening...

The actors from THE KNICK discuss training for surgery with Dr. Burns. 

     New exhibit at RESOBOX   

...   ...   ...   ...   ...   ...

On Friday, September 12th until October 10th, RESOBOX will be hosting its third annual Burns Archive photography exhibit. This year, the exhibit will feature a collection of nineteenth-century, hand-colored images of Japan, especially focused on "island lifestyle".
{http://resobox.com/japan-an-island-nation-1870-1890/}
In the exhibit “Japan: An Island Nation”, Elizabeth and Dr. Burns continue their exploration of photography in Meiji Japan. The photographs taken by noted commercial photographers document the landscape, ports and people working on the water. The images offer a glimpse into the visual landscape of Meiji Japan, where water played such an important role.


Opening reception: Friday, September 12th, 2014, 7-9 pm 
 We hope to see you there!

Listen to Dr. Burns talking about the creation of the Knick with writers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler on NPR's Fresh Air.

See what Steven Soderbergh has to say about Dr. Burns and The Knick in BLOODY HELL: STEVEN SODERBERGH DISSECTS HIS MODERN, 1900S MEDICAL DRAMA, "THE KNICK" 

“I wanted those scenes to be accurate and be graphic enough to be a topic of conversation,” says Soderbergh. “I don’t feel like they’re gratuitous, but they are extremely graphic.” The production team worked with consultant Dr. Stanley Burns of the Burns archive, keeper of the world’s richest textual and photographic record of medical history. “The amount of material we had access to was unbelievable. His five-story brownstone/museum is incredibly comprehensive. We had a bucket of procedures that would suit any story point we needed to make. If we said we need a procedure we can tease out of for this many episodes, or just a one off, we’d call him up and say, 'What do you have?'"

Read about Dr. Burns and The Burns Archive in
Modern Medicine, Circa 1900, in Soderbergh’s ‘The Knick'
 The New York Times Arts & Leisure Section on Sunday, August 3rd, 2014!

Mary Cybulski/Cinemax

Read "First, Try to Do No Harm" in The Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Owen says the surgery scenes were particularly taxing. In the operating theater, he had to speak with nurses and fellow doctors, explain the surgery to spectators—and at the same time make sure his surgical handiwork looked convincing. "I'm playing this genius doctor, so you don't want the [camera] cutaway to somebody else's hands being brilliant," Mr. Owen says. A historical consultant, Dr. Stanley Burns, supplied period photographs of operations and advised on the surgery scenes. Mr. Owen says, "Often his mantra was 'more clamps and more blood.' "

The Burns Archive is proud to have worked on the upcoming series "The Knick"!


New York City, 1900: The Knickerbocker Hospital is home to groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff who push the boundaries of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. The newly appointed leader of the surgery staff is the brilliant, arrogant renegade Dr. John Thackery, whose addiction to cocaine and opium is trumped only by his ambition for medical discovery and renown among his peers.  Into the all-white staff and patient hospital comes the equally gifted Harvard  graduate Dr. Algernon Edwards, who must fight for respect while trying to navigate the racially charged city. Trying to maintain its reputation for quality care while realizing a profit, the Knickerbocker makes an effort to attract wealthy clientele, while literally struggling to keep the lights on. 
Stanley B. Burns, MD and The Burns Archive served as the historical, medical, and technical advisers on the series, working closely with production and the actors to make the operative and hospital scenes realistic and authentic to the times.


Starring Clive Owen and directed by Steven Soderbergh, THE KNICK kicks off its ten-episode season FRIDAY, AUG. 8 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) on CINEMAX, followed by other episodes debuting subsequent Fridays at the same time.

The Morbid Anatomy Museum Grand Opening Party was a splendid affair. 




Dr. Burns gave an informative tour of the collection, and a magnificent time was had by all.