NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- All the news that 's fit to print -- the motto of The New York Times -- does not necessarily apply to photos . The newspaper published an editor 's note Thursday stating that pictures used in a photo essay in its most recent Sunday Magazine were digitally manipulated without the paper 's knowledge . The Times commissioned Portuguese photographer Edgar Martins to shoot a Sunday magazine color photo essay titled `` Ruins of the Second Gilded Age '' to capture physical evidence of the real estate bust that took place across the United States . In the text that preceded the six photos that were published , the magazine stated that while the photographer `` creates images with long exposures , '' he does so without digital manipulation . `` A reader ... discovered upon close examination that one of the pictures was digitally altered , apparently for aesthetic reasons , '' the Times editors wrote . `` Editors later confronted the photographer and determined that most of the images did not wholly reflect the reality they purported to show . Had the editors known that the photographs had been digitally manipulated , they would not have published the picture essay , which has been removed from the NYTimes.com , '' the note concluded . Numerous attempts by CNN to reach Edgar Martins by phone and e-mail were unsuccessful . The newspaper 's decision to withdraw the photos left a publisher of Martins ' book `` Topologies '' released in 2008 , intrigued and surprised . `` I think he 's a great artist and we 're very proud to have published his prior works , '' said Lesley Martin , publisher of Aperture books . She said that Martins ' prior works frequently verge on abstract landscapes , including forests ravaged by fire and nighttime beaches . `` His work has a certain visual effect . A distinct look and feel to it . '' However , Martin said she understands the newspaper 's decision . Aperture books , which publishes a variety of photographic styles , including photojournalism , `` would not have published this work in a strict journalistic context had we known there would be manipulation used , '' she said .
New York Times admits pictures in recent photo essay were digitally manipulated . Editors ' photos in Time Magazine were digitally ` ` for aesthetic reasons '' . Edgar Martins ' photo essay showcased real estate agents .