What is Solarization in photography?

Solarization (or the Sabattier effect) is a photographic technique that partially reverses tones, creating images with both positive and negative qualities and distinctive dark outlines (Mackie lines) between tonal areas. Man Ray and Lee Miller popularized solarization for Surrealist photography in the 1930s, reportedly discovering it by accident when Miller turned on a darkroom light during development. The technique transforms ordinary portraits and objects into mysterious, otherworldly images with an ethereal, dreamlike quality. Solarization creates uncanny effects by making familiar subjects strange through tonal inversion. While originally a darkroom technique, digital tools now simulate solarization effects. The technique exemplifies Surrealist embrace of chance and accident in photography, bypassing conventional representation to reveal hidden visual possibilities.