MAN RAY
American surrealist
photographer, painter,
printmaker and cofounder
of the New York Dada
movement. During the
1920's and 30s, Man Ray
lived and worked in Paris,
where he collaborated with
the artist Laslo Moholy-
Nagy. They experimented
with camera-free photography
working directly onto
photographic paper
Silk and ink This is a silk-
screen print made through the
following process: the paper
was laid on a flat surface and
a frame stretched with fine
silk was placed on top. The
first part of the stenciled image
was already marked on the silk
The screen and paper were
then held tightly together, while
a squeegee was used to drag
thick lilac-brown ink across the
silk pushing it though exposed
areas onto the paper below.
Black ink was printed next
and then white. The handprint
appears to be made directly,
last of all. Man Ray probably
used his own hand, caked in
thick printing ink or paint.Frame White lines are
seemingly (though not
actually) scratched through
ink to frame this face. They
suggest speed and make
the picture look immediate
and spontaneous.Autoportrait
1916
195 / 8 x 15 in (500 x 380 mm)
MAN RAY