Tyler Kekewich
Entertainment Reporter

A Toronto artist who is inspired by newspapers, said young people who get their information from the Internet might not be getting the whole picture.

“They just don’t see it [newspapers] as part of their daily habit,” said Barbara Astman, whose collection, Newspaper Series, is at the Corkin gallery in Toronto’s distillery district until April 28.

The exhibit is a collection of photographs that are digitally stitched together to create an image of a long row of newspapers, opened to interesting articles and images.

The newspapers in Astman’s photographs look like books lined up on shelves.

With some pieces more than nine feet long, the exhibit feels like being in a library of newsprint.

She collected newspapers for nearly three years and mostly used images and articles from the National Post, Globe and Mail, and New York Times.

The articles and ads focus on tragedy, triumph, or celebrity obsession, but may only reflect the usual, daily content of a newspaper.

“It was almost random – I would be flipping and I would like what I saw,” Astman said, who teaches art and photography at the Ontario College of Art and Design.

Gallery owner Jane Corkin, who represents Astman, said the show is important because it intelligently tackles a current issue facing society.

“She is interested in is our culture’s obsession with media,” Corkin said. “She deals in a very intellectual way with her subject matter.”