Both artists are extremely influential surrealists, but they use different elements of the movement in their work. In comparison to Cahun, Ray is more of a creator of surrealism whereas Cahun is developing and extending the idea. Ray doesn’t involve issues such as belonging in his Rayographs, it’s more about abstraction and exploration, he takes household object and makes them into dreamlike visions, rather than dream like concepts. Although some of his images did include silhouettes of his head and his partners head, this image connected to the idea of an autobiography running through his rayographs. His images didn’t so much involve conflicts of identity but rather a narrative of his life and the people in it. ‘We need to insist that we read a photograph, not as an image but as a text.’ This quote is taken from Graham Clarke and I feel it is the basis of surrealism. Both photographers don’t just take a picture in the moment, they set up a narrative, not necessarily a clear one but there is a reason for their work. The idea that we need to treat a photo as text, is seen throughout their work, especially with Claude where she uses her images to create a story around her sexual identity. 

 Looking back at the question it’s clear that surrealism involves topics of identity, but it doesn’t just stop there, the subject matter is endless. For instance, Man Ray doesn’t use his work to explore self-conflict but rather to explore photography as a medium. The camera-less images are groundbreaking in the way that we don’t even need high tech equipment to make an image. With the Rayographs he makes a statement rather than text, surrealism is about breaking regulations that were once in place surrounding photography. Cahun’s work focuses on portraits, almost all her images feature a person, whereas Ray uses objects as his focal points. “In any image, however, the primary frame of reference remains the subject of the photograph,” is said by Graham Clarke. This relates to how the people and objects featured in the artist’s work become the backbone of their narratives.  Roland Barthes came up with the theory of connotation and denotation which represent the difference between straight photography and surrealism. In Cahun’s work she uses people and their clothing as connotations to create an idea behind literal subjects. In straight photography everything captured has a denotation, it has no depth to its meaning, for instance a portrait of some men farming has no narrative, it is what you see. Whereas Ray uses a combination of objects to collectively create connotations, this allows the audience to decode the underlying message of the image.