Man Ray Photographs

by Jean-Hubert Martin, Man Ray

"I paint what cannot be photographed, I photograph the things that I don't want to paint....I would rather photograph an idea than an object, and a dream rather than an idea." Man Ray's own words suggest the essence of his brilliant, original, and deeply influential photographic oeuvre. Taking up photography in 1915 for the purpose of reproducing his paintings, he earned money doing the same for others when he went to live and work in Paris in 1921. This led to one of the richest careers in the history of photography, ranging from portraits of celebrated artists, musicians, and writers such as Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie, Arnold SchÜnberg, T. S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein, to the pictures using light effects outside the camera for which he is famous (cliche-verres, rayographs, and solarizations). These photographs are among the most exciting and revealing manifestations of the profusely fertile artistic impulse which made Man Ray equally celebrated as a painter, sculptor, writer, and filmmaker. Besides many classic images, this book includes a huge number of photographs that have never been seen before, including portraits of Virginia Woolf and Antonin Artaud and a large selection of erotic pictures. They add up to a truly revealing look at Man Ray, whom Cocteau called "the great poet of the darkroom."

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction

255 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 1987

Reviews

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Ask me, if you like, to choose what I consider the ten best photographs I have produced until now, and here is my reply:
1. An accidental snap-shot of a shadow between two other carefully posed pictures of a girl in a bathing suit.
2. A close-up of an ant colony transported to the laboratory, and illuminated by a flash.
3. A twilight picture of the Empire State building completely emptied of its tenants.
4. A girl in negligee attire, calling for help or merely attracting attention.
5. A black and white print obtained by placing a funnel into the tray of developing liquid, and turning the light onto the submerged paper.
6. A dying leaf, its curled ends desperately clawing the air.
7. Close-up of an eye with the lashes well made up, a glass tear resting on the cheek.
8. Frozen fireworks on the night of a 14th of July in Paris.
9. Photograph of a painting called, 'The rope dancer accompanies herself with her shadows. Man Ray 1916.'
10. Photograph of a broken chair carried home from Griffith Park, Hollywood, at one of its broken legs the slippers of Anna Pavlova.”

- Photography is not art, Man Ray

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive work detailing one of the leading lights of the Surrealist art movement, and arguably the greatest photographer of the genre. At times, the text could be a little hard going, and details about the individual images were some distance from the actual photograpsh (and sometimes referred to images not present in comparison), but the worth and very frequent beauty of the photographs displayed - a remarkable 340+ works - cannot be doubted.