I don't think that's cut & paste, I think it's dodge & burn. It's something you do while printing a negative that emphasizes the subject, in this case the man, and de-emphasizes the background. I was a news photographer in the 1970s and we did this all the time.
This is a fascinating process I’d never heard of before. Thank you for sharing. If there’s any good sources for descriptions of the photo processes like this you’re aware of, I’d be hugely interested as well (maybe write a book :)