Jacques-André Boiffard, also known as J.A. Boiffard, initially studied at medical school in Paris until devoting himself to the Surrealist art scene led by André Breton. In 1924, he began working under Man Ray as an apprentice, training as a photographer and often operating cameras on Ray's experimental short films. Boiffard eventually split from the Breton movement and struck out on his own with limited success. Following his father's death, he returned to school, merging his photographic skills with his medical training to become a radiologist from 1940 to 1959, later dying at age 58.