Man Ray
Man Ray (1890–1976) was an American photographer, painter and filmmaker, the only American to play a major role in both the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. After moving to Paris in 1921 he developed the cameraless “rayograph” and solarization, and his portraits and fashion photographs appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Vu and Vogue.
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Key facts
1890Born in Philadelphia
Man Ray was born in Philadelphia on August 27, 1890, the son of Jewish immigrants. He grew up in New York City, studied art, architecture and engineering, and adopted the name Man Ray around 1911.[1]
1915New York Dada
In 1915 he met Marcel Duchamp, and together they formed the New York Dadaist group and collaborated on many inventions. His readymades, such as Gift (a flatiron with tacks), exemplify the Dadaist approach of designating manufactured objects as art.[1]
From 1921Paris and Photographic Experiments
In 1921 he moved to Paris and joined the Dadaist and Surrealist circles. He rediscovered how to make cameraless pictures by placing objects directly on light-sensitive paper, which he called rayographs, publishing the collection Les Champs délicieux in 1922, and used solarization to produce part-negative, part-positive images. His portraits of Parisian cultural figures and his fashion photographs appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Vu and Vogue; his films Le Retour à la raison and L’Étoile de mer are regarded as Surrealist classics.[1]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Condé NastCondé NastCondé Nast is a global media company based in New York whose brands include Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ and Wired. It grew out of the publishing business Condé Montrose Nast built after buying Vogue in 1909, was acquired by Samuel I. Newhouse in 1959 and belongs to Advance, the Newhouse family’s private company. After Roger Lynch stepped down as chief executive in September 2026, lead independent director Mike Perlis became interim CEO.Open the full entry: Official website: https://www.condenast.com/ (opens in a new window).[2]