Marissa Elman | Fashion & Photography

Marissa Elman is a lifelong lover of fashion and photography.

Photographer Spotlight: Man Ray

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 An influential artist and photographer during the 20th Century, Man Ray set the tone as an artistic icon. His work inspired Andy Warhol and some other experimental artists during the 1960s and 1970s. The photographic legacy he left behind remains important to this day. During his most active periods of creation, he contributed to the Dada Movement and Surrealist art.

 

An Icon

 

 Born in Philadelphia in August of 1890, Emmanuel Radnitzky moved with his parents to New York City as a child. His parents had emigrated to the United States from Russia, where anti-Semitism created great hardship for many Jewish families in the late 1800s. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father developed a tailoring business in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.

 

 Man Ray initially studied to pursue a career in architecture and engineering. However, he ultimately decided to focus on art. Ray graduated from high school in 1908 and accepted occasional commercial art assignments in New York City while studying art independently and living with his parents. In 1912, he joined the Ferrer School, an avant-garde art colony founded under the ideas of the late anarchist Fernando Ferrer. He began using the name “Man Ray” during his early 20s. 

 

His Early Career

 

 By 1915, Man Ray found himself attracted to Dadaism. He collaborated on several projects with French artist Marcel Duchamp. In 1921, he emigrated to Paris. His work reflected the influences of many Dadaist and Surrealist artists there. 

 

 He developed a process for filming images without a camera he called “Rayographs.” He also gained acclaim for painting, sculpture, and photography. During the 1920s and 1930s, he produced surrealist art photos, like Noire et Blanche(1926) and Larmes (1930). He frequently photographed celebrities and intellectuals. His friends and acquaintances in Paris included Salvador Dali, Lee Miller, Francis Picabia, and Gertrude Stein.

 

His Final Years

 

 In 1940, the German occupation of France during WWII forced Man Ray to flee Paris. He resided in Los Angeles during the next 11 years, only returning to Paris in 1951. In 1946, he married dancer Juliet Browner. He reportedly felt misunderstood by many of his U.S. critics. 

 

 In 1963, he published his autobiography, Self-Portrait. His work gradually achieved notoriety. He passed away in 1976. His widow donated some of his works to museums.

 

Ever since his death, his art inspired and continues to inspire artists all over the world. Man Ray artistry is taught in art classes all over the world, and his work is displayed in museums across the globe.

Creating Mixed Media Art with Photography

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Creating mixed media pieces is a fulfilling artistic activity to attempt with all types of wet and dry materials. Artists create mixed media pieces by combining any two types of media, such as acrylic paint with oil paints. However, mixed media artists aren’t limited to creating pieces with paint and other typical artist media. Photographers create works using mixed media by combining their photos with paint, pencil, pen, or other types of media. Many artists will experiment with developing their own unique methods of using various papers, photographs, and wet media to make collages of their own work.

 

Mixed Media Through the Ages

Although photography is a relatively new media for artists, mixed media works were popularized long before the invention of the camera. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci is known to have used gold leaf in his paintings. Even though photography is a viable media today, current artist Lawrence Weiner chooses to use text in his mixed media work. However, if someone is interested in creating works of art in the modern digital age, incorporating photographs into the composition is a viable option that might produce the desired result the artist aims to achieve.

 

Ways of Experimenting With Photographs

Watercolor:

Using watercolor paint on photographs adds a whimsical element to the picture that didn’t exist in the original. Photographs with watercolor take on a mysterious, unique quality. If an artist is unsure of how to begin with this technique, they should try printing a picture with plenty of white space on the edges.

 

Ink:

Artists use this technique to make their pictures stand out by adding shapes or colors to the original photograph. In order to avoid making mistakes on the original, it’s helpful to have an extra copy of the photograph. This gives the artist some freedom to experiment with ink without the fear of messing up the picture.

 

Collage:

Professionals recommend this technique to people who are hesitant about painting on their pictures. There’s something satisfying about cutting paper up to arrange it differently into a cohesive new piece. This technique for creating mixed media work often looks multidimensional.