Contents
Man Ray
Making experimental photographs and Surrealist images.
Rayographs · Le Violon d’Ingres
- Born
- 27 August 1890
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Died
- 18 November 1976
More people
Man Ray
Man Ray was an American-born artist who spent much of his working life in Paris. Moving between photography, painting, objects and film, he turned everyday materials into disorienting visual experiments.
Early life
Immigrant family
Born Emmanuel Radnitzky to Russian Jewish parents and raised mainly in Brooklyn.
Artistic beginnings
Studied drawing and visited museums while developing his own work.
Career
- 1910s
New York avant-garde
Became associated with Marcel Duchamp and Dada experiments.
- 1921
Paris move
Established himself as a photographer among artists and writers.
- 1920s–1930s
Fashion and Surrealism
Combined commercial photography with experimental images and films.
- 1940–1951
California interlude
Lived in Los Angeles during and after the war before returning to Paris.
Selected work
Rayographs
Made camera-less photographs by exposing objects placed on light-sensitive paper.
Le Violon d’Ingres
Transformed a photographed back through the addition of violin-like markings.
Noire et blanche
Juxtaposed a face with an African mask in a carefully staged photograph.
Beyond work
Lee Miller
Worked closely with the photographer, including experiments with solarisation.
Juliet Browner
Married the dancer and model in 1946.
Sources & photo credit
Biography ↗Life and work ↗Photo: Carl Van Vechten. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
