ABSTRACT
Man Ray was also a pioneer in abstract photography. He was probably the first to make use of the rayograph technique in making abstract compositions. In making a rayograph no camera is used; objects are placed directly upon sensitized paper which is then developed. With such objects as a fly-screen, a darning egg, brass rings and a lock of hair Man Ray achieved compositions of great subtlety (figs. 186, 187). They were acclaimed by Man Ray’s fellow-Dadaists because of their anti-“artistic” and apparently casual technique but many of them are in fact consummate works of art closely related to abstract painting and unsurpassed in their medium.
