An American in Paris beginning in 1921, Man Ray moved in the Surrealists’ circle and produced paintings, sculptures, drawings, films, and photographs that stretched the limits of his materials. Although he supported himself as a portrait photographer, in other work, he pushed the medium beyond its traditional role of recording reality, most notably in his cameraless photograms, or “rayographs,” as he called them. In fact, the technique of placing objects directly on sensitized paper and exposing them to light was as old as photography itself, but rather than precise records of an object’s form, Man Ray’s rayographs—in characteristic Surrealist fashion—were unpredictable and unrepeatable, unrecognizable and abstract.