Whereas nowadays the question “Is photography art?” no longer constitutes a serious issue and is answered alone by the astronomical prices that are paid for photographs at art auctions, it was still a matter for passionate debate during the period of classic modernism in the first half of the 20th century. In 1929, in defence of the artistic value of photography, the Paris art magazine L’Art vivant published a series of articles in 1929 entitled La photographie est-elle un art? (“Is Photography Art?”) Among the first works to be put forward as affirmative examples were those of Man Ray. Man Ray himself seemed hardly interested in discussing the question. Asked by the author of the article for his opinion, he replied: “Is photography an art? There’s no point trying to find out if it’s an art. Art is a thing of the past. We need something else. You’ve got to watch light at work. It’s light that creates. I sit down in front of my sheet of photographic paper and I think.” (From the postface by Herbert Molderings)

Man Ray, *1890 in Philadelphia, USA; †1976 in Paris.