Untitled

Man Ray arranged a carpenter’s rule and a glass negative with an image of La Grande Roue (France’s first Ferris wheel) to make this combination of a photogram and contact print. “Rayographs,” as the artist called his photograms, are cameraless images made by light that is blocked by or passed through objects placed on photographic paper. For Man Ray, the surface of the photographic paper became a sketch pad where unrelated objects, drawn by light, merged to create abstract compositions evocative of dreams and imaginary scenes. The artist exhibited his experimental photograms alongside paintings and sculptural objects within months of his move to Paris from New York. Through such exhibitions, he advanced an artistic identity that included photography among a variety of media experiments.