Man Ray

I am interested in the work of Man Ray , especially his photography , which has a surreal element. Man Ray was working and influencing the Dada and Surrealist movement in the 1930-40's which is of interest , as this around the same time the book was being developed and these movements would have been influencing the writings of Orwell. However, probably not for the better Orwell wrote an essay on Salvador Dali describing Dali's art as 'disgusting' , although this is the opinion of Orwell I believe certain elements of Man Ray's photography are essential for research as the images would would be captured with the techniques and technology of the time . I would like to research modern photographers also to develop a further depth to the final fashion images .

Image found: http://www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/gallery/images/ray.jpg

Tears - 1930-32

As the interpretation of the 3 choosen stages of 1984 has to be related to fashion in terms of an editorial or a advertisement campaign , the way in which Man Ray is able to capture emotion in a surreal form is beautiful and eye catching. Orwell did not like surrealism , however I believe part of 1984 is surreal , how Orwell writes about Winston's dreams of Julia . This could be depicted in a surreal way allowing the audience to acknowledge it is a subconscious image of Julia . 

Narrative : The image could be a still shot of a film , or a drama leaving the audience asking questions of what is the girl upset about ? what is she looking at ? There does not seem to be fear in her eye's it looks as though it is heartache . 

However the image portrays the story of a mannequinn crying glass beaded tears . 

Lighting: up lighting has been used to capture this image , this casts a shadow on the top of the glass beads , it also causes a shadow in the eye socket , which makes the viewer focus on the dark deep holes of sorrow. 

Image found : https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtvLztWLtGS_6hmS1pXLDdzBVCN9n9oSnJKT05gT0MMyteUN__IVaLQs9LT1m3M2YtWpXKl_Sc1uj44uTO6lslP6ywbH3iq7nv8f5xKtZLsnZU7x-IjhaF-a267k69HIBlyoIu73E7BY/s1600/ManRay7.jpg

Le Violon d'ingres 

Man Ray gained inspiration for this photograph from a Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres nude paintings, using KiKi as his muse he added the F - holes of a violin to the photograph. Layering the image allowed Man Ray to work with the final image , this is something that I have researched previously that lettering may be added during post production or the layering of an image to created movement .  

Lighting : The lights appears from the top left hand corner above the model casting a light onto her face and shoulder . A further light is used from the same direction as the camera which illuminates the back , which contrasts with the darkness of the F-holes and the dark background. It also gives the impression of pureness in the model . 

Image found : http://www.ilex-press.com/wp-content/uploads/man-ray-lee-miller.jpg

Lee Miller

Man Ray and Lee Miller had a love affair, in which time Miller was his new muse . It is easy to see why in this photograph taken in 1929 , he has captured her beauty and porcelain skin . I like how the image has been developed , Man Ray was famous for developing his images using different materials and truly experimenting . The image appears to be raised from the paper , almost so the viewer could touch Miller . 

Lighting : Man Ray has used a close light from under Miller slightly to the left of the Centre , this illuminates her clothing and the side of her face. Another light has been used behind Miller in the top left corner, this draws the detail of the hair and the neck . 

Image Found : http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m52oxxVZOc1r7xatro1_1280.png

Woman with Long Hair 

Narrative & Lighting 

This image shows a Man Ray questioning the norm of a human . As in this image the viewer see a woman with no visible arms or shoulders ? Is she layed or suspended in the air ? is she dead or alive ? Why is she sitting for this image ? 

The first time I saw this image all these question ran through my mind which is brilliant for an image to evoke so many questions about the narrative . When looking further the background lighting looks like water , Man Ray may have done this in postproduction or by holding a pattern in front of the light . There is a bold light directly on the model which captures every detail in her hair and face.