"To the developed mind that creates an image whose strangeness and reality stirs our subconscious to its inmost depths, the awakening of desire is the first step to participation and experience." —Man Ray
Apart from his nude studies, Man Ray is generally not considered a photographer of natural forms. Yet he included several such images in his first monograph Photography by Man Ray: 1920 Paris 1934, including five floral studies. Those images, like the study of passionflowers offered here, are energized by Man Ray’s vast imagination and technical flair. The passionflower is named for the Passion of Christ, which provides one possible subtext for the image, as does the erotic associations of the word passion. In Man Ray’s handling, the flowers transcend the real and become surreal.