Man Ray Response

The concept of pleasure is deeply rooted in Man Rays work. Stated in the beginning of the film, Man Ray wanted to liberate pleasure, and then again at the end of the film, Duchamp described him as a man of pleasure, playing and pleasuring.  For me, the fact that classic and then distorted music was played while viewing his photographs was very fitting in how the progression of his works went on. The music began very classical, and mannered, as did his photographs when he began taking portraits of the dada members and then artists and wealthy members of society. It quickly changed to distorted noise when he began to experiment with photograms and playing with light and shadows. The statement at 17:28 stood out to me because it mirrors what I look for in my own work. The idea of photographing what the mind looks like. To capture on paper the shapes of his dreams. Reality wasn’t enough for Man Ray, which can be seen largely in his surrealist painting style. Working from the photographs of real life objects and distorting them in ways that weren’t capable in real life.

In his photos, especially his portraits, he often sought out the truth of his subjects. Capturing them as they are, no illusions to distort the viewer’s eye. It was said he even set his camera back to avoid distortion of the human face and form. Man Rays photos are so captivating due to their dreamlike state. He would have the model close their eyes, and then suddenly open them, allowing him to capture an unrehearsed movement, a middle ground of reality and imaginary. Working in commercialized fashion only enhanced his skills. Spending as much time researching the fashion industry and the way the clothes felt, or were able to be folded, allowed him to be able to fully contrast and define the garments. Looking at the colors of the outfits or jewelry, and contrasting them with a backdrop or even props if he was allowed. I think having commissioned work, especially with specific parameters, helped Man Ray focus in on the simplicity of the lighting, lines, shapes, and colors of what was in front of the camera. Making more out of the less that he was given.

Then at 30:26, the process of solarization was introduced. The process involved turning on the white light while a photo was developing to inverse the whites and blacks. Furthering interest of my ideas of creating dream like qualities, as this process gives an almost drawing like effect as it creates a seemingly pencil drawn outline around the figure. Still, even with his success as a photographer, he was always upset his paintings never got such recognition. Strangely enough, while his photos heavily involved the human form, his paintings didn’t rely on them as much and when they did appear in his work they were distorted and made into a more symbolic and metaphorical form. And still in the end, his art works were laced in the ideas and concepts of pleasure, whether it be between the photographer and the model, the model and the object, or a series of photos that worked together to tell a story of time, love and death.