Erotic photos without a camera

Man Ray might have preferred to have become a famous painter, but it was his photography that brought him renown. Works like "Le Violon d'Ingres," which turns a woman into a string instrument, and the giant "Glass Tears" flowing from Kiki de Montparnasse's eyes struck a chord with humanity.

At first, he just wanted to document his paintings and drawings photographically. But then he discovered a passion for the female body and found joy in experimenting with his images.

Photographs without a camera

During the 1920s, a debate about the role of photography was raging in the US. Was it just as a technical tool to mirror reality, or a means of artistic expression?

Man Ray demonstrated just how artistic photography could be with his so-called "rayograms" or "rayographies." This special technique involved placing objects on unexposed photographic paper while exposing them to different light sources.

The blurred outlines of these camera-less photos impressed the Dadaists and, later on, the Surrealists. French poet Jean Cocteau even called Man Ray "a poet of the darkroom."

In the 1930s, Man Ray became very successful with lascivious nude photography, as well as with his portraits of renowned artists, writers and fashion designers - among them Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso, André Breton, and Henri Matisse.

But his favorite motifs always remained beautiful women, such as his lover, bar singer Kiki de Montparnasse, and his student and assistant Lee Miller. By double-exposing his pictures, they became intriguingly blurred, inviting the viewer into a dream world.

Ray's novel approach to photography went over well with fashion magazines like "Vogue" or "Harper's Bazaar," where he worked until the beginning of the Second World War.

Dadaism: Nonsensical art from everyday objects

Emmanuel Radinsky alias "Man Ray" was born on August 27, 1890 in Philadelphia. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants assumed the name Man Ray after finishing his art studies in New York. It was an era of industrialization and the world was yet unscathed by global war.

In 1915, Man Ray met French artist Marcel Duchamp in New York. The two became close friends and shared a common concept of art, which would become known as Dadaism. Dadaist works focused on everyday objects and were the product of sheer coincidence - and the same can be said about Man Ray's first "rayograms."

One of Man Ray's most famous objects is an iron studded with nails. As household tool, it was totally useless, but as an art object, it made history. These nonsensical works were a counter-proposal to the established art of the middle class.

No fame in the US for Man Ray

Like many other artists of his time, Man Ray was multi-talented. He not only created paintings, sculptures, collages, and photographs, but also worked as a director and filmmaker. His "rayograms" were shown in Fernand Leger's film "Mechanical Ballet" in 1924.

Starting in 1921, Man Ray lived in Paris where he joined the Surrealists. Influenced by Freud's psychoanalysis, the surrealists heavily relied on the subconscious and on dreams as a source of artistic inspiration.

"I do not photograph nature, I photograph my visions," Man Ray once explained. Like Dadaism, Surrealism soon became outdated and disappeared after World War II.

In 1940, Man Ray fled from the Nazis and returned to the United States. He took part in Hollywood film productions while developing his artistic style. In the US, however, he didn't find much acclaim and eventually returned to Paris in 1951.

When Man Ray passed away on November 18, 1976, he bequeathed more than 4,000 works of art to his wife Juliet Browner. Now the collection is in the possession of her brother, and is stored in 12 huge vaults. So far, the public has only very limited access to these works. A foundation administering the estate will continue to hold most rights until 2046.

Until this day in the distant future, the contents of these precious vaults will remain a mystery. But there are sure to be quite a few unknown erotic portraits inside.