Électricité 1931

Man Ray made this photograph, Électricité, using light and shadow, and a double exposure of a female form, with an overlay of white lines like electrical currents. It's like he's thinking about how we see and what electrifies us. The tones are soft, almost velvety, which makes the stark white lines feel so much more dynamic, like lightning cutting through fog. Notice how those lines aren't just straight; they wiggle and curve, almost echoing the curves of the body beneath. There’s a real sense of layering, a process made visible, which gets at something deep about photography - the way it can capture a moment, but also transform it. Man Ray always struck me as someone who loved to play with art history and remake it in his own image. I wonder if he had in mind Duchamp? Anyway, this piece is like a poem about light, form, and energy, all rolled into one slightly naughty package.