Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky) 1890 – 1976 was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known for his photography, and he was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. Man Ray is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called “rayographs” in reference to himself.

During his career as an artist, Man Ray allowed few details of his early life or family background to be known to the public. He even refused to acknowledge that he ever had a name other than Man Ray .

Man Ray displayed artistic and mechanical abilities during childhood. His education at Brooklyn’s Boys’ High School from 1904 to 1909 provided him with solid grounding in drafting and other basic art techniques. While he attended school, he educated himself with frequent visits to the local art museums, where he studied the works of the Old Masters. After his graduation, Ray was offered a scholarship to study architecture but chose to pursue a career as an artist.

There is a lot to learn about this artist and I can really recommend reading Wikipedia. At this blog I tend to focus on his work as photographer, between 1930 and 1950 he was a distinguished photographer.

Of course there are way to many photos to share all of them. I created a collection I felt that fit the atmosphere of my site, and photos that show how Ray influenced the visions on surreal and subtile erotic photography. Also it fascinates me how some great artists were connected to each other, like Man Ray, Nusch Elouard, Lee Miller, Kiki de Montparnasse, William Seabrook, Meret Oppenheim and his Justine. One inspired the other which lead to some truly creative and daring works.

Be sure to browse the Category for Man Ray to view all photos taken by him.

Mixed