Meanings
plural rayographs
- A photogram of the kind produced by Man Ray.
The artist constructed this rayograph by placing disparate objects — a notched collar and a strip of folded paper — on photographic paper.
2004, Barbara Beth Zabel, Assembling Art: The Machine and the American Avant-Garde1 more example
Man Ray developed a similar procedure for photography — montage and suggested the working of the unconscious mind by dropping objects randomly onto a light-sensitive surface in his rayograph process.
2000, Lynn Gamwell, Dreams 1900-2000: Science, Art, and the Unconscious Mind
Origin
From Ray + -o- + -graph, coined by Man Ray (1890–1976), American modernist artist, based on his own name.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
rayograph. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rayograph
“rayograph.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rayograph. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rayograph,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rayograph.
Source: rayograph on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.