Thoughts on Man Ray

Man Ray started out as a painter in New York in the early 1900s. After traveling to France he moved to portrait work to make ends meet where he accidentally created what he called the "Rayograph." Ray stated, "I had finally freed myself from the sticky medium of paint and am working directly with light itself" ("Crimes against Photography"). From there on he spent more time in the darkroom experimenting and discovering new complex compositions that "evoked space and movement" ("Crimes against Photography"). 

Looking through Man Ray's work, I wasn't drawn to any of his Rayographs in particular. I understand that they brought about a new era in photography, but none of his compositions really inspired me in any way. I believe this is because the concepts he mistakenly created are widely used today in what we call photograms. What he did to his sheet of exposed paper is something I have already learned how to do in class. In addition, I tend to look for a deeper message in compositions and I wasn't able to grasp any of the ideas he was conveying in these pieces. I found some of his later works in surreal photography much more impacting.

One of his most famous pieces, "Glass Tears," was made by photographing a model looking up in distress with glass spheres fixed under her eyes. Because this piece was created after World War I, I believed this piece was about gender inequality and how women were forced to go back to doing housework and "womanly jobs" when the men returned. They went from doing real brute work to being household gems there to look pretty. In my opinion, the most striking thing about this piece is the fact that the model is clearly wearing makeup, but even though she cries, her mascara doesn't run down her face. One may be led to believe that at that time women had to be complacent in society which is why she does not show her true distress and her tears are transparent. 

Upon researching this piece, I discovered Man Ray's intent was not to highlight gender inequality but to make his ex-lover regret leaving him. Despite learning this, I still find this piece inspirational because it just goes to show how one singular art piece can have a plethora of interpretations and still have grounds even if it wasn't the artist's original intention. Just like how there is no wrong form of photography, there is no wrong way to observe a composition. I may not enjoy many of Man Ray's Rayographs, but I did enjoy researching his surrealist photography and developing different complex narratives to them.

""Crimes against Photography": Man Ray and the Rayograph." YouTube, uploaded by San Francisco     Museum of Modern Art, 24 Aug. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2umyxWJslJY.