Pratt Institute
Spring 2026
5.5 in × 8.5 in
these are not tears.
these are not tears.
these are not tears.
these are not tears.
these are not tears.
these are not tears.
these are not tears.
These are not tears.
This photograph depicts a fashion model with round glass beads arranged along her cheeks, mimicking the path of tears falling. Her expression as pensive, her gaze if lifted up, with mascara encrusted eyes The eyes themselves are fully focused in the frame while the edges of the photograph dissolve into a blur. This draws full attention to the intensity of her expression. The photograph concentrates the viewer on the melodrama.
However these tears are not real.
The image is a commentary on the artificial. The substitution of tears for glass, the image is constructed. Its an echo of the theatrical nature of the silent film movie stars, whose exaggerated expressions are transform emotions into performance. The sorrow is staged rather than documented, the artificial to imitate human feelings. The work collapses genuine loss with manufactured emotion. Sadness is stylized and frozen.
Untitled (Glass Tears), 1932
Gelatin Silver Print
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sources:
Man Ray, Larmes (Tears), gelatin silver print, ca. 1930–32, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Man Ray, Untitled (Glass Tears), ca. 1930–33, gelatin silver print, 8 7/8 × 11 1/4 in., Bluff Collection, Promised Gift of John A. Pritzker, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The J. Paul Getty Museum. Exploring Photographs: Glass Tears. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, n.d. https://www.getty.edu/education/ for_teachers/curricula/exploring_photographs/downloads/tears.pdf