Wild Card- Anything on Web

Description: Man Ray has amazing aesthetic and his surrealist art is an inspiration- along with other photographers of the time (Margaret Watkins- Cnd). His use of negative space is ingenius as he crops his hair, hand and arm to create interesting spaces of solarized grey in between his solid body that takes attention away from the solid subject.

Intentions: To have the viewer's eye be torn between the negative and positive spaces that his form creates within the frame. Also, he's experimenting with the printing process of solarization to achieve an effective blown background while still keeping detail in the whites and skin texture of Man Ray.

Good/Bad: Very effective and interesting as tension and interigue are created in the frame. I can even notice the tripod he was using for the shot just under his thumb.

Evaluation: I see this portrait as showing Man Ray intent in his work, he must have been a driven person who didn't sway from his chosen path unless given a good push. I would like to see his eyes, although I don't feel like I'd get any more information than I learn from seeing him work with his camera. I see his eyes as being represented by the camera lens, so the viewer is forced back into analyzing Ray's work to gain insights into the man himself.

Self-Portrait with Camera, 1930
4.25 x 3.25 inch
(vintage solarized silver print)