Through 100 photographs, including the artist’s most iconic shots, the NGO – known for its advocacy of press freedom – highlights the discoveries of this versatile genius, whose evocative pseudonym means “Ray-Man”. It is a fitting editorial choice given the immense fascination that this icon of surrealist art continues to evoke. His emblematic Violon d’Ingres, which fetched over 10 million euros at auction in 2022, holds the distinction of being the most expensive photograph in history.
In Man Ray’s 1924 photograph, Kiki de Montparnasse, both muse and lover to the artist, appears nude, her back turned to the camera. She wears only a simple turban with fine stripes, reminiscent of the languid bathers painted by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in the 19th century. A loincloth accentuates the curve of her lower back and the beginning of her hips. On this eroticized body, Man Ray delicately sketched the f-holes of a violin using a Chinese graphite pencil. Miraculously, the model’s shape merges seamlessly with the instrument’s silhouette.
Kiki, the unmistakable icon of bohemian Paris, was recognized for her bobbed haircut, large kohl-rimmed eyes, and crimson lips. Another legendary photograph featuring her, Noire et Blanche, is also highlighted by Reporters Without Borders. “Here,” reads the caption, “Kiki poses with her eyes closed, her head resting on the table, her slicked-back hair emphasizing the oval of her face. In her hand, Man Ray placed a Baule mask, a ritual object from one of the Akan peoples of Côte d’Ivoire.”
Further along in the collection, connoisseurs will recognize Les Larmes, originally a commissioned work for Cosmecil mascara: a close-up of an eye with “exaggerated lashes, lined in black,” which, for those with arachnophobia, may bring to mind the delicate legs of a spider. The face, we learn, belongs to Lydie, a French cancan dancer whose cheeks were adorned with glass beads. “A dreamlike yet slightly unsettling vision, characteristic of the surrealist aesthetic.”
The album gives special attention to the solarization process, an experimental technique that Man Ray and Lee Miller relentlessly pursued. In fact, it is Lee Miller’s solarized profile that graces the album’s cover. At the time, the American model, extensively photographed, dreamed of becoming a photographer herself. She would go on to become “his assistant, his muse, and the great love of his life,” writes Jeanne Poret, curator of the collection. “Together, they pushed the boundaries of photography.” Unfortunately, Miller eventually left him.
“Devastated, Man Ray staged his own suicide in a photograph that appears at the very end of this portfolio.” In this striking image, he is shirtless, with a rope around his neck and a gun to his temple. Less dramatic, however, is the portrait of André Breton dressed as an aviator – one of Jeanne Poret’s personal favorites. “The poet is seated on a chair against a neutral background,” she describes. “He wears oversized aviator goggles, and a cut-out piece of paper encircles his face, mimicking the hoods sometimes worn by pilots. The whole scene is both amusing and gentle.”
The exhilarating spirit of the Roaring Twenties pulses through the portraits Man Ray took of his friends. “It was 1924. Man Ray had been in Paris for three years, and he had formed friendships with the Dadaists—some of whom would later become the Surrealists. When they visited his studio, he seized the opportunity to photograph them. These were sessions filled with joy, intellectual stimulation, and love, which Man Ray immortalized with remarkable talent.”
To transport readers to the Paris of that era, Reporters Without Borders has included an excerpt from Man Ray’s 1963 autobiography, Self-Portrait:
“We finally reached a boulevard in Montmartre, where a vast and noisy fair stretched as far as the eye could see. (…) My friends rushed about like children, moving from one attraction to another, laughing and having the time of their lives. Eventually, they fished out bottles of cheap wine and champagne with lines that had rings attached at the end. I watched them, astounded by the carefree joy of these people who, otherwise, took themselves so seriously—people who wielded revolutionary influence over art and the thinking of a new generation.”
Jeanne Poret sees boldness as one of the defining traits of the American expatriate. “In a world where mobility was far from a given, he did not hesitate to cross the Atlantic (…). A pioneer in every way, he was among the first to elevate photography to the status of fine art,” she notes. Through his daring and imaginative work, Man Ray embodied an inspiring kind of freedom in the way he depicted the world. “He was fearless, rarely looking to the past, always moving forward with optimism and determination. Like him, let us keep moving and never fear being at the forefront!”
The album Man Ray, 100 Photos for Press Freedom is available for €12.50 on the website of Reporters Without Borders.
