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A review by vanessakm
Man Ray in Paris by Erin C. Garcia
4.0
This slim volume collects Man Ray's photography mainly from 1920-1940. Seeing it all together, it's amazing how much he influenced our visual references through the 1950's and 60's. Take a look at his collection "Electricite", which was, amazingly, a series commissioned by a French electric company in 1931 to promote domestic use of electricity. I know, it's hard to imagine someone needing to promote that in the first place and then hiring a famous Surrealist for the job.
Also included are his experiments with Rayographs (the technique he created of placing objects on photographic paper and exposing them to light) and solarization (exposure of a developing picture to light resulting in partial and unpredictable reversal of tones.) Gorgeous.
Of course, Man Ray mainly made his living as a portrait taker and although that was his least favorite way to use his camera, his pictures pretty much capture the artistic community of 1920's Paris: James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau, Joan Miro, Marcel Duchamp (whom he sometimes photographed in drag-Paris in the 1920's really was a far cooler place to be than the US.)
I was surprised how sexually frank some of his photographs were for the time. Check out "La Priere", a picture from 1930 that is composed of a close-up of woman's kneeling hind-quarters with her hands strategically positioned.
The text and information are good and the reprints are lovely. The emphasis really is on the visuals of Man Ray's work. I would have liked a little more background information on some of the pieces but c'est la vie.
Also included are his experiments with Rayographs (the technique he created of placing objects on photographic paper and exposing them to light) and solarization (exposure of a developing picture to light resulting in partial and unpredictable reversal of tones.) Gorgeous.
Of course, Man Ray mainly made his living as a portrait taker and although that was his least favorite way to use his camera, his pictures pretty much capture the artistic community of 1920's Paris: James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau, Joan Miro, Marcel Duchamp (whom he sometimes photographed in drag-Paris in the 1920's really was a far cooler place to be than the US.)
I was surprised how sexually frank some of his photographs were for the time. Check out "La Priere", a picture from 1930 that is composed of a close-up of woman's kneeling hind-quarters with her hands strategically positioned.
The text and information are good and the reprints are lovely. The emphasis really is on the visuals of Man Ray's work. I would have liked a little more background information on some of the pieces but c'est la vie.