I have known my friend Kim for over 30 years. Twenty-four years ago she visited me in Baltimore and I noticed, on her hand, a ring that was reflecting the light. I had her hold her hands still while I took out my Hasselblad and light meter, then made an exposure. I remember that it took a few minutes. I recently tried to re-make this image and didn't anticipate that it would take almost an hour and I still couldn't get close to the feel and pose of the original image.
In 2013, the Basque director Oskar Alegria introduced his film " The Search for Emak Bakia" at the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival. An exceptional experimental film, it weaves documentary, storytelling, and history while revealing aspects of Man Ray's time in the Basque Country that are difficult to appreciate otherwise. Emak Bakia means "leave me in peace" in Basque and it was also the name of the house that Man Ray lived in. In this movie there are scenes of women sleeping whose eyes are captured just at the moment of awakening. These reminded me of some of my favorite Man Ray photos, such as the one of Kiki de Montparnasse. http://emakbakiafilms.com/fotos/?pid=1 Kiki and the African Mask, by Man Ray 1926