Man Ray called photographs made by placing objects directly on light-sensitive paper rayographs.
A rayograph is a type of photogram: an image created without a camera by arranging objects on photographic paper and exposing the paper to light. The objects block or partly block the light, producing silhouettes, tonal shapes, and outlines when the paper is developed.
Man Ray popularized the term “rayograph” during his Paris-based Surrealist period in the early 1920s. The name combines his surname with the word “photograph.” His rayographs often turned everyday items into mysterious, abstract compositions through unusual scale, overlapping forms, and strong contrasts.
Rayographs are not the same as solarized photographs. Solarization reverses or alters tones during photographic processing, whereas a rayograph depends on direct contact between objects and light-sensitive material. The broader term “photogram” applies to similar camera-less images made by many artists, including László Moholy-Nagy.