“Man Ray: When Objects Dream at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the first major exhibition to examine the media-crossing, radical experimentation of American artist Man Ray (1890–1976) through one of his most significant bodies of work, the rayograph. Man Ray coined the term rayograph to name his version of the 19th-century technique of making photographs without a camera. He created them by placing objects on or near a sheet of light-sensitive paper, which he then exposed to light and developed. These photograms—as they are also called—appear as reversed silhouettes, or negative versions, of their subjects. They often feature recognizable items that become wonderfully mysterious in the artist’s hands. Their transformative nature led the Dada poet Tristan Tzara to describe rayographs as capturing the moments ‘when objects dream.’ While Man Ray acknowledged the photographic origins of his new works, he did not think of them as strictly bound by medium. Taking Man Ray’s lead, this presentation will be the first—more than a century since he introduced the rayograph—to situate this signature accomplishment in relation to his larger artistic output.” — The Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Before my eyes an image began to form, not quite a simple silhouette of the objects as in a straight photograph, but distorted and refracted … In the morning I examined the results, pinning a couple of the Rayographs—as I decided to call them—on the wall. They looked startlingly new and mysterious.” — Man Ray

Installation views of Man Ray: When Objects Dream, on view September 14, 2025–February 1, 2026 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photos by Anna- Marie Kellen, Courtesy of The Met.

As one of the most fascinating and multi-faceted artists in the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, Man Ray challenged traditional narratives of modernism through his daring experimentation with diverse artistic mediums,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “Anchored by Man Ray’s innovative and mesmerizing rayographs along with new research and discoveries, this exhibition invites visitors to explore his ground-breaking manipulation of objects, light, and media, which profoundly reframed his artistic practice and impacted countless other artists.”

Title image:  Man Ray (American, 1890–1976). Rayograph 1922. Gelatin silver print. 9 1/2 × 7 in. (24.1 × 17.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bluff Collection, Promised Gift of John A. Pritzker. Photo by Ben Blackwell © Man Ray 2015 Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2025. Image courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.