Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky, August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American modernist artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. He was a significant contributor to the Surrealist movement, which was a cultural movement in the early 1920s where artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself.
He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, referring to those experimental photographs in terms of culture and society. He was also a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. During his career as an artist, Man Ray kept his life very private- refusing to acknowledge that he ever had a name other than Man Ray.
Ray is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called "rayographs" in reference to himself. He described these as "pure dadaism"- referring to the Dada movement of the popular avant-garde artists. Man Ray made his rayographs without a camera by placing everyday objects directly on a sheet of photosensitized paper and exposing it to light. Ray had photographed similar objects previously, but these unique, visionary images immediately put the photographer on par with the avant-garde painters of the day. Hovering between the abstract and the representational, the rayographs revealed a new way of seeing that delighted the Dadaist poets who championed his work, and that pointed the way to the dreamlike visions of the Surrealist writers and painters who followed.
During the second world war, Ray was forced to move from France to the United States- he lived in Los Angeles, CA between 1940 and 1951. In 1963, he published his autobiography, Self-Portrait, which was republished in 1999, the year he was named one of the top 25 most influential artists in the 20th century.
He died in Paris on November 18, 1976 from a lung infection. His wife organized a trust for his work and donated much of it to museums before she was burried along his side in 1991.
"Legendary Photography, painter, and maker of objects and films, Man Ray was on the most versatile and inventive artists of this century. Born in Philadelphia in 1890, he knew the worlds of Greenwich Village in the avant garde era following the 1913 Armory show; Paris in the 1920's and 1930's, where he played a key role in the Dada and Surrealist movements; The Hollywood of the 1940s, where he joined others chased by war from their homes in Europe; and finally, Paris again until his death in 1976. "
I chose to research Man Ray because this year in English we had to review one of his pieces. I noticed how different his work is than most I've seen and wanted to know the story behind the photographer. It all makes sense now that I know he was an artist during the Surrealist movement and he has traveled and experienced so much. There are a lot of stories behind each of his photographs, so before I tried to analyze them, I wanted to know the story behind Man Ray.
He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, referring to those experimental photographs in terms of culture and society. He was also a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. During his career as an artist, Man Ray kept his life very private- refusing to acknowledge that he ever had a name other than Man Ray.
Ray is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called "rayographs" in reference to himself. He described these as "pure dadaism"- referring to the Dada movement of the popular avant-garde artists. Man Ray made his rayographs without a camera by placing everyday objects directly on a sheet of photosensitized paper and exposing it to light. Ray had photographed similar objects previously, but these unique, visionary images immediately put the photographer on par with the avant-garde painters of the day. Hovering between the abstract and the representational, the rayographs revealed a new way of seeing that delighted the Dadaist poets who championed his work, and that pointed the way to the dreamlike visions of the Surrealist writers and painters who followed.
During the second world war, Ray was forced to move from France to the United States- he lived in Los Angeles, CA between 1940 and 1951. In 1963, he published his autobiography, Self-Portrait, which was republished in 1999, the year he was named one of the top 25 most influential artists in the 20th century.
He died in Paris on November 18, 1976 from a lung infection. His wife organized a trust for his work and donated much of it to museums before she was burried along his side in 1991.
"Legendary Photography, painter, and maker of objects and films, Man Ray was on the most versatile and inventive artists of this century. Born in Philadelphia in 1890, he knew the worlds of Greenwich Village in the avant garde era following the 1913 Armory show; Paris in the 1920's and 1930's, where he played a key role in the Dada and Surrealist movements; The Hollywood of the 1940s, where he joined others chased by war from their homes in Europe; and finally, Paris again until his death in 1976. "
I chose to research Man Ray because this year in English we had to review one of his pieces. I noticed how different his work is than most I've seen and wanted to know the story behind the photographer. It all makes sense now that I know he was an artist during the Surrealist movement and he has traveled and experienced so much. There are a lot of stories behind each of his photographs, so before I tried to analyze them, I wanted to know the story behind Man Ray.
Les Champs delicieux- 1922
This is one of Ray's most famous photogram- or rayograph rather. Two hands, one bright white, the other a muted gray, are poised either to stop or to start the globe-like object in the center. The hand at right is dark because of its distance from the photographic paper during the exposure.
Because Rayographs, or photograms, are made without the use of a camera, they defy the expected objectivity of the photograph. While traced by light from actual three-dimensional objects, these images depict an internal landscape or psychological tension rather than an external reality.
The idea of a rayograph challenges the human mind- are you looking at a photograph? or a painted image? One cannot be too sure and it may even cause confusion.
Because Rayographs, or photograms, are made without the use of a camera, they defy the expected objectivity of the photograph. While traced by light from actual three-dimensional objects, these images depict an internal landscape or psychological tension rather than an external reality.
The idea of a rayograph challenges the human mind- are you looking at a photograph? or a painted image? One cannot be too sure and it may even cause confusion.
Les Larmes- 1932
Man Ray considered this one of his most successful photographs.
Like the emotive expression of a silent film star, the woman's plaintive upward glance and mascara-encrusted lashes seem intended to provoke wonder at the cause of her distress. The viewer begins to think of so many questions... like most of Ray's work.
The face, however, belongs not to a real woman but to a fashion mannequin who cries tears of glistening, round glass beads; the effect is to aestheticize the sentiment her tears would normally express. Man Ray made this photograph in Paris around the time of his breakup with his lover Lee Miller, and the woman's false tears may relate to that event in the artist's life.
I picked this photograph because it has a lot of questions behind it. Who is the woman? What does she look like? Why is she crying? What is she looking at? And the fact that there is an endless count of answers.
Like the emotive expression of a silent film star, the woman's plaintive upward glance and mascara-encrusted lashes seem intended to provoke wonder at the cause of her distress. The viewer begins to think of so many questions... like most of Ray's work.
The face, however, belongs not to a real woman but to a fashion mannequin who cries tears of glistening, round glass beads; the effect is to aestheticize the sentiment her tears would normally express. Man Ray made this photograph in Paris around the time of his breakup with his lover Lee Miller, and the woman's false tears may relate to that event in the artist's life.
I picked this photograph because it has a lot of questions behind it. Who is the woman? What does she look like? Why is she crying? What is she looking at? And the fact that there is an endless count of answers.
Le Violin d'Ingres - 1924
Man Ray was an admirer of the paintings of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and made a series of photographs, inspired by Ingres's languorous nudes, of the model Kiki in a turban.
Painting the f-holes of a stringed instrument onto the photographic print and then rephotographing the print, Man Ray altered what was originally a classical nude. He also added the title Le Violon d'Ingres, a French idiom that means "hobby." The transformation of Kiki's body into a musical instrument with the crude addition of a few brushstrokes makes this a humorous image, but her armless form is also disturbing to contemplate. The title seems to suggest that, while playing the violin was Ingres's hobby, toying with Kiki was a pastime of Man Ray. The picture maintains a tension between objectification and appreciation of the female form.
I chose this photograph because it really sparked a lot of questions on what was going on and I wanted to look up what this photograph was about. Why was she naked? why a turban? why does she look like a musical instrument? After googling for my answer I know can truly appreciate this shot for it's main purpose- to combine the stereotyping of females along with the confidence of other women.
Painting the f-holes of a stringed instrument onto the photographic print and then rephotographing the print, Man Ray altered what was originally a classical nude. He also added the title Le Violon d'Ingres, a French idiom that means "hobby." The transformation of Kiki's body into a musical instrument with the crude addition of a few brushstrokes makes this a humorous image, but her armless form is also disturbing to contemplate. The title seems to suggest that, while playing the violin was Ingres's hobby, toying with Kiki was a pastime of Man Ray. The picture maintains a tension between objectification and appreciation of the female form.
I chose this photograph because it really sparked a lot of questions on what was going on and I wanted to look up what this photograph was about. Why was she naked? why a turban? why does she look like a musical instrument? After googling for my answer I know can truly appreciate this shot for it's main purpose- to combine the stereotyping of females along with the confidence of other women.
Noire et blanches -1926
Man Ray originally made this photograph for French Vogue. Upon first glance at the photograph as published in the May 1st, 1926 issue it appears to be entirely gratuitous. The photograph is alone on the page with the title, 'Visage de nacre et masque de ébène' (mother of pearl face and ebony mask) and only a brief poetic text about the evolution of the species being led by women. It is not an article about make up or hair styles, nor is it about African art or the photography of Man Ray. But that is precisely the point. Man Ray was a fashionable photographer. The magazine had already prepared their readers by publishing an article about him and his photograms two months earlier.
The model, Man Ray's lover Kiki, with her pearly white complexion and oval face literally embodied the height of current style. Vogue and other fashion magazines of the time were full of illustrations of the long oval face, even women's clothing store mannequins, as witnessed in some of Eugène Atgets photographs, had the elongated face, not that different from the stylized faces in Modigliani's canvases. To mimic the shape and contrast its color, Man Ray used the West African Baoule mask. African sculpture was popular and inspirational to artists since at least the beginning of the century. By the mid-20s, interest in African art and culture had reached a broader public.
I chose this photograph because the unusual coloring drew me in. As I looked more into it I noticed that there was a lot of emotion going on and that this could be interpreted in many different ways- but in my mind, relating to equality among races. I find it interesting that this was published in Vogue with no story behind it- no description. It was merely showing the upcoming emergence of African culture in the current fashion and trends.
The model, Man Ray's lover Kiki, with her pearly white complexion and oval face literally embodied the height of current style. Vogue and other fashion magazines of the time were full of illustrations of the long oval face, even women's clothing store mannequins, as witnessed in some of Eugène Atgets photographs, had the elongated face, not that different from the stylized faces in Modigliani's canvases. To mimic the shape and contrast its color, Man Ray used the West African Baoule mask. African sculpture was popular and inspirational to artists since at least the beginning of the century. By the mid-20s, interest in African art and culture had reached a broader public.
I chose this photograph because the unusual coloring drew me in. As I looked more into it I noticed that there was a lot of emotion going on and that this could be interpreted in many different ways- but in my mind, relating to equality among races. I find it interesting that this was published in Vogue with no story behind it- no description. It was merely showing the upcoming emergence of African culture in the current fashion and trends.