Man Ray

Emmanuel Radnitsky was born in Philadelphia but grew up in New Jersey. He moved to New York and became a commercial artist in the 1910´s. He adopted his nickname, Man Ray in 1912. Initially, he specialized in painting and mixed media, but began using photography to document his works. Man Ray moved to Paris in 1921 and set up a photography studio where he began making photograms that he called Rayographs. Around this time he also began experimenting with moving pictures. Man Ray moved back the United States before World War II, where he lived in Los Angeles until 1951. Disappointed in his reputation in the States, he returned to Paris in 1951 and painted there until his death in 1976