Man Ray Prophet of the avant-garde

Written by Neil Baldwin (Man Ray: American Artist), this enduring 1997 documentary gets an update in this director's edition marking the tenth anniversary of the original DVD release. Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in 1890, Man Ray spent most of his youth in Brooklyn, NY, before eschewing college and embarking upon a bohemian artistic life in Manhattan, where he became a master photographer, painter, poet, avant-garde filmmaker, and philosopher. He married Belgian poet Adon Lacroix and began collaborating with Dadaist Marcel -Duchamp. The marriage ended in 1921, and Man Ray moved to Paris, where he lensed Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein, among others, as the unofficial photographer of the Dadaists. He also developed his "rayograph" photographic technique, which produced photographic images without the use of a camera. The film addresses Man Ray's personal relationships and his marriage to dancer Juliet Brown, which lasted for the final 30 years of his life; he died in 1976. The overall production and the effects are well executed, with judicious and exacting editing of the old and new city scenes. The many interviews with Man Ray are riveting. The bonus disc contains an interview with director Stuart (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory). A guidebook and lesson plans are also provided. For art history collections.-Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.