Man Ray and his wheelbarrow

Man Ray's approach to art is very diverse. He has created many pieces of work in his lifetime and he is an extremely versatile artist. He has worked in areas such as painting, illustration, photography, sculpture, filmmaking and fashion. There is a continuous flow of images that he has composed throughout his life and all have been influenced by the Dada and surrealist movements.

Man Ray considered himself as a painter overall, but was most famous and successful in his photography. He created some of the most iconic photographs the 21st century. Man Ray was so successful because he used his own emotions and desires then expressed them in photography. He was apart of the new photographers, innovating new ways to use photography. They experimented with new processes and styles. His best discovery was the photogram, using objects, light-sensitive paper and no camera. This way of working was difficult to gauge in advance and the outcome were ambiguous.

Man Ray experimented all the time and another area of his work that was successful was his portrait pieces. He found portraits to be very profitable and started to dedicate more of his time towards it. This also gave him a positive reputation quickly. During this activity Man Ray got to network with painters, poets, sculptors and musicians of great distinction. He then created portraits of the brains and beauty of his time. This will be incorporated into my body of work. I want to photograph the wheelbarrow in interesting portraiture shapes and create a body of work.

The areas that have most influenced the visual thinking project are his photography and film making work. His photography has influenced the way I am going to create a surreal outburst during my film. His surreal approach to creating a new method of photography will be apparent in the film. Rayographs of the wheelbarrow will be shown during the film and resemble Man Rays approach to Surrealism and experimentation. The films that Man Ray has made are helping me to create a film with his influences. It will not have a significant narrative story, but will follow the wheelbarrow and look cinematic.

References: Man Ray by Roland Penrose, Photography, a concise history by Ian Jeffrey.