Man Ray: Liberating Photography - Hardcoverby Nathalie Herschdorfer (Author), Wendy Grossman (Text by (Art Photo Books)) Man Ray (1890 1976) was a man both of and ahead of his time. With his conceptual approach and innovative techniques, he liberated photography from previous constraints and opened the floodgates to new ways of thinking about the medium. A close friend of Marcel Duchamp and Andr Breton, he was one of the few photographers to be mentioned among the Dada artists and surrealists.