Rayograph

Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky)

1922

A gelatin-silver photogram in which Man Ray placed ordinary objects directly on light-sensitive paper so their shadows and traces of light register as abstract, luminous shapes.

You first notice stark white silhouettes—ribbon-like loops, a chair-like skeleton and a long glowing rod—floating on deep black, their edges flickering between crisp cutouts and soft, ghostly blurs as if in motion.

Made amid Dada and Surrealist experiments, this Rayograph helped free photography from the camera by using light and objects alone to create abstract, dreamlike images that expanded the possibilities of modern art.

Palette

Art Terms

Rayograph Gelatin silverprint (developing-out paper) Photogram Cameraless photography Dada Surrealism Abstraction

Exhibitions

Man Ray, 1890–1976

1976

Posters from the Bernard Davis Collection

1950

Picture Puzzles

1975

The Prints of George Rouault

1938