Man Ray

 Man Ray

By: Amanda Schaeffer

     Man Ray had unusual ways to take photographs. "Man Ray was primarily known for his photography, which spanned both the Dada and Surrealism movements" (Biography.com Editors 2020). For my personal preference, I don't like surrealism paintings or photographs. I find them very hard to understand and can't really analyze what the image is suppose to mean. However, I did find one image that I enjoyed looking at. The above image is one of Man Ray's photographs that he did. The "pearl like tears" make it look almost realistic tears coming from the woman's eyes. You can tell by the direction of her eyes and the lowered eyebrows that this woman is upset. The clear pearls symbolize droplets of tears that look frozen on her face. By using this technique, it really draws the viewers eyes to go to the tears. I find this image quite fascinating and interesting. This is the only image I found from Man Ray that I enjoyed the appearance of since it is understandable and attractive to look at.

    

    In the image above, I see small details that I approve of and also some flaws that I see. As I said earlier, I like the pearl droplets that represent tears. Furthermore, I also like how the girl did her eyelashes. The eyelashes seem very dark black and almost spider like. They are really long in length which makes the viewer look at her eyes. The black long eyelashes draws attention to her upset eyes and tears. However, Man Ray could have added some black smudge mascara under her eyes. If Ray would've done that, then the viewer would've known that the woman is definitely crying. The image itself right now doesn't have any black smudges or a black tear trail from her eyes. I thinking adding this crucial detail would have tied this photograph into the meaning he was trying to portray.

    Man Ray was a famous photographer of the Surrealism work that he has done. Surrealism in art has never interested me and it didn't change once I saw Ray's photographs. However, Ray did do something that I admire in the photography world. "He also developed a thriving career as a fashion photographer, taking pictures for such magazines as Vogue" (Biography.com Editors 2020). I want to be a photographer when I get older, however, I don't think I will ever photograph for Vogue. Ray's accomplishments makes me want to achieve my photography/videography goal since Man Ray was successful in the photography industry. Even though I don't necessary like some of his photographs, Man Ray still encourages me to achieve my photography career since he had huge accomplishments with his.

    

Work Cited

biography.com editiors. “Man Ray.” Biography, 2 June 2020, www.biography.com/artist/man-ray.