12. THE CAPTION. FOR MAN RAY. 1970-1972
It is Man Ray who indicates an architectural picture simulating a frame on a wall. The picture in itself says nothing, or else it says too many things. I took the exposure as Man Ray was telling a joke; as he points to the empty and framed space, the painter says: “ça, c’est mon dernier tableau.” (Look, this is my last picture).
The image tells us nothing of the genre, because the photo was suggested, not by the visual situation, by Man Ray’s making a gesture or taking a certain pose, as by his words. In short, I took a picture of a phrase. But this can only be seen by introducing the phrase in the photo, that is, by putting its caption inside it. This is, after all, confirmed by Man Ray himself, who does not indicate a painting, but rather utters a sentence that is his painting: the sentence is both Man Ray’s artwork and my photograph.
