Photography: Man ray

1. "It has never been my object to
record my dreams, just the
determination to realize them."
(Julien Levy exhibition catalog,
April 1945.)
Man Ray, born under the name ‘Emmanuel
Radnitzky’ on August 27 1890, was an American
artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France.
Many people would describe him as a ‘modernist’
and was a fashion and portrait photographer, but
was more renown for his Photograms.
Man Ray met his first wife, the Belgian poet Adon
Lacroix, in 1913 in New York. They married in 1914,
separated in 1919, and were officially divorced in 1937.
In 1929 he began a love affair with the Surrealist
photographer Lee Miller, who later became his
photography assistant. When Man Ray moved to Los
Angeles, USA, in 1940 during the second world war, he
met Juliet Browner, a trained dancer and experienced
artists' model, and married in 1946.

2. From the time he began attracting attention as an artist
until his death more than sixty years later, Man Ray
allowed little of his early life or family background to be
known to the public, even refusing to acknowledge that
he ever had a name other than Man Ray. His education at
Boys' High School from 1904 to 1908 provided him with a
good knowledge in drafting and other basic art
techniques. At the same time, he educated himself with
frequent visits to the local art museums. After graduation
from high school, he was offered a scholarship to study
architecture but chose to pursue a career as an artist
instead. He stayed at home for the next four years,
working steadily toward being a professional painter,
while earning money as a commercial artist and technical
illustrator. He produced his first significant photographs
in 1918.
Movements:
Dada
Surrealist

3. Man Ray was a Portrait and Fashion photographer, but
was more widely known for his Photograms. His
Photograms, which he renamed ‘Rayographs’ after
himself, consisted of items being placed on top of
photographic paper, then exposed to light. If an item
wasn't entirely solid, or was semitransparent, then it
would create an unusual effect on the photographic
paper. With pictures like
the image below, he has
also put his hands in the
image, making it look as
if the object is floating
between his hands. Man
Ray, with the help of Lee
Miller, also invented the
photographic technique
of solarization.
“For Man Ray, the camera was
not a machine for making
documents but an instrument
for exploring dreams, desires
and the medium's unconscious
mind.” Quote from the BBC.

4. Websites:
http://americanart.si.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.lilithgallery.com/
http://www.manraytrust.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk