Emak Bakia

1925

The first Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie Pierre

Ray is represented in the first Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie Pierre in Paris, alongside Jean Arp, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, Georges Malkine, André Masson, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso.

1929

An affair with Lee Miller and solarization

Ray begins a love affair with the Surrealist photographer Lee Miller, who is also his photographic assistant; together they reinvent the technique of solarization. Miller leaves him in 1932.

1940

Fleeing occupied France for the United States

The Second World War forces Ray to flee Nazi-occupied France and return to the United States; Ady Fidelin chooses to stay behind.

1940

Meeting Juliet Browner

A few days after arriving in Los Angeles Ray meets Juliet Browner, a first-generation American of Romanian-Jewish lineage, a trained dancer who studied with Martha Graham, and an experienced artists' model; they will marry in 1946.

1946

A double wedding with Ernst and Tanning

Ray marries Juliet Browner, who takes the name 'Juliet Man Ray', in a double wedding with their friends Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning; the couples serve as each other's witnesses.

1951

Back in Paris: the studio on rue Férou

Ray returns to Paris and settles with Juliet in a studio at 2 bis rue Férou, near the Jardin du Luxembourg; he lives in Paris for the rest of his life.