The solarisation technique is a phenomenon in photography in which the image, recorded on a negative or on a photographic print, is wholly or partially reversed in tone; dark areas appear light or light areas appear dark. Man Ray perfected the technique, which was accidentally discovered in his darkroom by his assistant. Man Ray [1890- 1976] was an modernist artist who has produced major works in a variety of media, but he was best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography and photograms [which he called "rayographs" in reference to himself].