Kiki de Montparnasse

Aesthetic and witty in many ways, Man Ray's photo of the Parisian model more famously known as 'Kiki de Montparnasse' is one of my favorite 'body' photos. The cleverly painted F-notes on Kiki's back is a symbol for how Kiki's body is an instrument, in this case a violin; thus the title of the photo Violon d'Ingres. Kiki does not have the second name Ingres. The attribution comes from her looking like the subject of a painting by a nineteenth century artist named Ingres. On a side note, Ingres was also an amateur musician. So you can see the many underlying themes and jokes in this simple but elegant photo.

Source: Photography by John Ingledew