Man Ray: La photographie n’est pas l’art

Provocatively proclaiming that photography is not art, this 1937 publication by Man Ray reproduces twelve of the artist’s photographs in an unbound book. Verses by André Breton labeled “convulsionnaires” serve as an introduction that announces, “Mais voici Man Ray. Voici l’homme à tête de lanterne magique.” (Here is Man Ray. Here is a man with a magic lantern head.) The works’ subjects include a colony of ants with a Surrealist caption, “cerveau bien ordonné” (well-ordered brain), a portrait of Hollywood actress Miriam Hopkins, and a backlit female figure standing in a dramatic pose titled “le sex-appeal” (sex appeal).