There is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love.
MAN RAYThere is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love.
MAN RAYJust as I work with paints, brushes, and canvas, I work with the light, pieces of glass and chemistry.
MAN RAYI paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive.
MAN RAYA certain amount of contempt for the material employed to express an idea is indispensable to the purest realization of this idea.
MAN RAYOh, yes, I was a great retoucher. A retoucher is an esthetic surgeon !
MAN RAYReality is fabricated out of desire.
MAN RAYIs photography an art? There is no point in trying to find out if it is an art. Art is old-fashioned. We need something else.
MAN RAYI have been accused of being a joker. But the most successful art to me involves humor.
MAN RAYQuote me as much as you like; as a matter of fact I don’t even mind if you misquote me !
MAN RAYI paint what cannot be photographed, something from the imagination. I photograph the things I don’t want to paint, things that are already in existence.
MAN RAYAn original is a creation motivated by desire.
MAN RAYTo me, a painter, if not the most useful, is the least harmful member of our society.
MAN RAYLipstick is the red badge of courage.
MAN RAYMy works were designed to amuse, annoy, bewilder, mystify and inspire reflection.
MAN RAYI am not going to be dictated to by the size of the camera. I use everything from an 8 x 10 to a 35-mm. But I don’t use these modern cameras which break down all the time !
MAN RAYIs photography an art? There is no point in trying to find out if it is an art. Art is old-fashioned. We need something else.
MAN RAY