Archival photo manipulation
 

I am doing a short documentary that will use a number of black and white archival photos. A number of the photos have information written on them in white ink.

Is it possible to make the white text transparent so that I can use the same photo underneath it but shifted slightly so that what shows through effectively masks the written text. I appreciate that this would likely only work when the surrounding area is of the same consistency (eg sky or water). Any thoughts that anyone was would be much appreciated.

I tried to attach an example but it didn't seem to work.

Thanks

Curt