“I do not photograph nature, I photograph my fantasy,” declared Man Ray, finding in the camera's eye and the magical chemistry of light the mechanisms for dreaming. Trained as a painter and designer in New York, Man Ray turned to photography after discovering Gallery 291 and its charismatic founder, Alfred Stieglitz. As a young expatriate in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s, he embraced Surrealism and Dada, movements that stressed the effects of chance, disjunction and surprise. His tireless technical experimentation led him to use solarisation, enlarged grain, mixed media and cameraless prints, or photograms, which he called “rayographs”, made by placing objects directly on photographic paper and exposing it to light. These successful manipulations, which prompted fellow Surrealist Jean Cocteau to call him “the poet of the darkroom”, made an important contribution to twentieth-century photography.
 
 
 
Man Ray was equally accomplished in commercial and portrait photography, earning a good living in Paris and later in Hollywood. His portraits of Joyce, Eliot, Matisse, Artaud, Hemingway and Brancusi, among others, demonstrate his compelling insight. Renowned for his exotic wit and elegance, Man Ray was one of the most popular figures of his time, and his work retains its broad appeal.
 
 
 
Man Ray presents forty-three of the finest images from the artist's career. Jed Perl's essay explores the influences behind Man Ray's prolific career and his enduring contribution to photography.