Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky)
American, 1890­1976
Tanja Ramm	
c. 1929
Silver gelatin print from solarized negative
21.9 x 16.8 cm
Julien Levy Collection, Special Photography Acquisitions Fund, 1979.95
© 1995 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York /ADAGP/Man Ray Trust, Paris

If you look carefully at this photograph of a beautiful woman, you will notice something unusual about the edges of her face. The negative from which this photograph was made was altered by a process known as edge reversal or “solarization.” Man Ray discovered solarization when one day the darkroom light was turned on accidentally while he was developing negatives. Though he thought the negatives were ruined, he printed them and discovered a marvelous effect: the contours of figures became very dark and sharp, while the tone of some of the shadow areas was reversed and became light.