cornish.modern: Man Ray Representing the New Man/New Woman through Sexuality and Rebellion in the 1920s

As Dadaism came to an end and surrealism was at the forefront of art world, many of these new “Surrealists” explored the idea of joining the subconscious with the conscious realms of reality in relation to human nature and sexuality. Man Ray’s icon, Marquis de Sade, explored these taboos despite the consequences (and was later imprisoned for publishing obsessive sexual exploits involving women, go figure.) These writings gave Man Ray inspiration to explore eroticism and female imagery at the end of Dadaism, bringing women’s sexuality and the “new woman” to the public eye. “The new man” and queer repression was an idea also explored by Man Ray and is communicated through a few sets of “rayographs.”

Man Ray had to work against the conventions of the masculinist movement by examining the long repressed queer dimensions of the unconscious that even surrealism feared to unleash. This feminine man, proud and strong, with clearly still masculine features is a representation of “the new man.” of the 1920s, when queer is no longer a matter not to be discussed. Jean Cocteau hired Man Ray to take a set of photos of him as a female figure known as “Barbette.” Jean is in a stage transforming between average man and adding pieces to become the show girl that completed Barbette as a character. Barbette’s wig is on and his face is made up, but his chest is bare and very obviously a man’s. Barbette becomes a metaphor of the new masculinity not only in being bisexual, but in giving the impression of being emasculated. The erotic spectacle enacted by Barbette cannot be separated from the physical traumas engendered by World War I.

This situation happens once again when Marcel Duchamps asks Man Ray of the same thing, to take a set of photos of him dressed as a female figure. Marcel’s photos defy the violence or subjugation of the female body common to surrealism and presents femininity’s agency over the desires of the viewer. Man Ray achieves the vision of making the desire of the unconscious that knows nothing of the social prohibitions that would forbid this fusion of the male and female. Once again, these camp aesthetics still show masculine qualities beneath the wig. Rrose Sélavy, like Barbette, plays with the notion of uncannily hiding one’s self beneath a “veil” of another gender. The exploration of “new” sexualities within men of the 1920s is a common topic for Man Ray in 1920s rayographs/photographs.

Man Ray was also inspired by his obsession with women and also began to explore female eroticism, evident in many of his photographs. Man Ray seeked certain docile women as a fetish for photographing, but bringing women’s sexuality into the mainstream photography eye and media brought about advancement in feminism through sexuality. This sexual woman, bare, with emphasis on natural curves and romantic lighting represented the “new woman.” In some of the photos, there are women in vulnerable positions or engaging in sexual activity, and this is rumored to cater to Man Ray’s sexual desires, but this documented sexual activity was revolutionary in early photography and feminism.

Man Ray’s lover, Lee Miller, was often photographed by Man Ray. Miller represented something new to Man Ray. "She was," according to Carolyn Burke, "the incarnation of that provocative French figure, the garconne, an independent young woman who plans to enjoy her freedom." She brought to the role a New World self-assurance. This was her appeal to Man Ray. She embodied the present woman. In one photo, Miller covers herself below the waist with a tightly draped cloth, an gesture of dignified protest against her objectification. Her mainly nude body is made androgynous by her pose. Androgyny is another quality of the “new woman” that Man Ray represents through some of his photos. Miller’s arms in this photo are behind her head in angular points to keep a distance. Miller’s gaze avoids her spectators, like confrontation would melt her independence.

Man Ray’s photographs of Kiki, another lover, often use the outline of her body to represent other objects. A notable photo of Kiki is the one of her painted as a violin. The natural curves of a woman are compared to a useful playing instrument, and that’s how Man Ray saw women, but the way Kiki sits upright and proud doesn’t seem discouraging to women.