Chess Set

1920s

A photography studio: portraits of Paris bohemia

Convinced that he cannot make a living from his art alone, Ray buys a camera and opens a studio; he creates a series of famous photographic portraits of Erik Satie, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein and Jean Cocteau.

1920s

Discovering Eugène Atget with Berenice Abbott

Together with his assistant Berenice Abbott, Ray discovers the photography of Eugène Atget, bringing it to the attention of the Surrealists and a wider public.

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.

1927

Portraits of the Maharaja of Indore and his wife

A series of photographs of Maharaja Yashwant Rao Holkar II of Indore and his wife Sanyogita Devi, taken during their 1927 visit to Europe, reflects Ray's international fame as a portrait photographer.

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.