Man Ray moved from abstract painting, and moved to phtography through taking photographs of his works. He is mainly considered a visual artist since he combines many forms of art into art.

Some of his works include “The gift” which is a piece made on the same day as his first solo show in Paris. Ray took a simple iron, and made it evoke different qualities by attaching the tacks, which cling and hold, contrast with the iron, which is meant to smoothly glide, and both are rendered useless.

The “Rayograph” is one of Man’s earliest Rayograms (a process by which objects are laid directly on to a photo-sensitive paper then exposed to light. To create this particular picture, he transferred the silhouette of a pair of hands to the photographic paper then repeated the procedure with a pair of heads). Rayograms gave Man Ray an opportunity to be in direct contact with his work and react to his creations immediately by adding one layer upon the next layer. A technique which can clearly be seen in his later work, such as “Le Violon d’Ingres”.

Ray used Kiki de Montparnasse wearing a turban as a model for this piece. He transformed the female body into a musical instrument by painting sound-holes on her back, playing with the idea of objectification of an animate body. “This image is one of many of Man Ray's photographs that have gone on to have a rich afterlife in popular culture. F-holes have become a popular tattoo design amongst musicians, and fashion designers like Viktor and Rolf referenced the image to create their spring 2008 collection.”

“Les Larmes” is also a piece created by Man Ray in which he uses layers. He took a picture of a model's eyes with mascara-coated lashes looking upward. To further dramatize the scene, he used glass as tears (threrefore glass tears), as top layer after printing the eyes image.