Anita Douthat, Stool & Cane, photogram on  gold-tones printing-out paper, 1992

 
 
Man Ray

An American artist, Man Ray moved to Paris in 1921 and became one of many expatriots living abroad. At a time when Paris was the center of the artistic scene, Man Ray relocated there and began to exhibit his modern art in selected exhibitions. The abstract, innovative ideas coming into art appealed to artists like Man Ray and his contemporaries. One day he stumbled on a relatively simple process by accident, and described it as "painting with light." This new way to use the photographic process was interesting to Surrealists, because of the simple means of production and the creative possibilities it offered.

"You may regret to hear but I have freed myself from the sticky medium of paint, and am working directly with light itself," Man Ray wrote to patron Ferdinand Howald in 1922. He found that this new medium was portable, and the materials he needed were readily available. He came to call this new photographic process the "rayogram," as he believed that he was the first person to discover the technique. He used available objects such as funnels, wire spirals, match sticks and a wine glass in experimenting with the process. Man Ray often moved the objects during the process, finding that the resulting image was almost ghostly and translucent. He eventually learned to master the direction, intensity and duration of light, achieving amazing variation with this straightforward process that still captures Anita Douthat's attention today.
 

--Lesley Keiner


Back