I am rushing out the door right now,but I must stop for a moment and report on this very cool discovery related to Man Ray and light painting, or as he called it “space writing”.  I was forwarded this information by the Man Ray Trust.

Man Ray is the first light painter.  His “space writing” images are the very first recorded light painting images that I can find.  You can see his 3 “space writing” images here.

Well, in a recent article in The Smithsonian Magazine there is news about an interesting new discovery in his “space writing” images.  Quoting from the article, “…Ellen Carey, a photographer whose working method is similar to Man Ray’s, has discovered something that has been hidden in plain sight in Space Writings for the past 74 years: the artist’s signature, signed with the penlight amid the swirls and loops.”

This is a link to the article. Be sure to check out the interactive demonstration at the right hand side of the page to see his signature outlined clearly.

I’ll have more about “space writing” later as I work to include these images, and analysis of them, into Luminary.