I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the power of imagination and dreams in artistic expression, highlighting that art can capture the intangible.
Man Ray's statement reveals the essence of his artistic philosophy, suggesting that true art transcends mere reality captured through photography. It speaks to the idea that the artist's inner world, influenced by imagination and dreams, holds greater significance in the creative process, allowing for a deeper connection with feelings and subconscious drives.
In practice
During an art class, to inspire students to express themselves, one might say this quote to encourage them to delve into their imaginations.
I like contradictions. We have never attained the infinite variety and contradictions that exist in nature. Tomorrow I shall contradict myself. That is the one way I have of asserting my liberty, the real liberty one does not find as a member of society.
I do not photograph nature. I photograph my visions.
l photograph what l do not wish to paint and l paint that which l cannot photograph.
Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask 'how', while others of a more curious nature will ask 'why'. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.
Dada cannot live in New York. All New York is dada, and will not tolerate a rival.
Nature does not create works of art. It is we, and the faculty of interpretation peculiar to the human mind, that see art.
A play is made by sensing how the forces in life simulate ignorance-you set free the concealed irony, the deadly joke.
So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.
To me style is just the outside of content, and content the inside of style, like the outside and the inside of the human body - both go together, they can't be separated.
The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget.
Sometimes female characters start out as the wife or girlfriend, but then I realize, 'No, she's the book,' and she becomes a main character. I surrender the book to her.
Could a man live by it, it were not unpleasant employment to be a poet.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.