Early in 1922, after leaving New York for Paris, Man Ray began to experiment with making camera-less “photos,” placing found objects upon photosensitized paper and exposing the arrangements to light. The immediacy of this process did away with the drawn-out steps of darkroom photography, addressing the goal Man Ray outlined when he wrote, “I am trying to make my photography automatic—to use my camera as I would a typewriter.” He nicknamed the results of his experiments “rayographs,” a combination of his name and the word “photograph.” This rayograph toys with the role of film in photography—instead of developing the film to create a photo in the traditional manner, Man Ray unspooled the roll across the light-sensitive paper to create a spiraling form.
Gallery label from 2019
