by Andrea Rosen, Curator of Under the Surface. Ever interested in light and movement, Man Ray created Space Writing (Self-Portrait) by opening the shutter of his camera for a prolonged exposure and drawing with a penlight in the air. Man Ray appears only as a dark, blurred figure in the background. His doodled outline, his scribbled […]
Man Ray, Space Writing (Self-Portrait), 1935
by Meg Bunke ’14. This photograph is surprising because of its diminutive size, which is more suggestive of a wallet photo than a photograph displayed in a museum. The photograph’s size makes it seem unassuming next to larger works, despite being taken by such a revered artist. Man Ray uses a long exposure to capture […]
Man Ray, Space Writing (Self-Portrait), 1935
by Jesse Ortiz ’16. Initially, Man Ray’s Space Writing (Self-Portrait) confused me. But as I continued examining the photograph, the layers unraveled—the squiggled “writing” exists in a plane on top of a blurred background. Right away, I saw the hand in the lower right corner. This hand led me to realize that the blurred background […]