Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 2: Modern Era (1850–1949)
1922
Rayograph by Man Ray

Rayographs, photographs made by placing objects directly on sensitized paper and exposing them to light reflected Dada’s interest in chance and the nonsensical. “The random objects leave behind a shadowy imprint that dissociates them from their original context.” These works stand as critical examples of early generative as well as experimental photography.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
Dadaism
Filed under
- Ideas
- chance, Dadaism, experimental photography, light, photography, randomness
- Technologies
- generative photography, photograms, Rayograph
- People
- Man Ray
Echoes across time
- 1983 · Alyce Kaprow, Fazes
- 1968 · Generative Photography at Bielefeld Kunsthaus
- 1974 · Art et Informatique by Maison de la Culture d’Angers
Le Random editorials
- Operator on Human Unreadable, Peter Bauman, November 21, 2023
- Casey Reas on the History of Generative Art - Part 1, Peter Bauman, June 22, 2023
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 2—Modern Era with Kate Vass — listen with transcript on Le Random (20 Jul 2023, 58 min). Transcript mentions Man Ray. Chapter 2’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify