This photocollage is the culmination of a series of assemblages begun in 1929 in which Bayer symbolically addressed particular issues and dealt with interactions that he, the artist, felt were relevent to his life and his work. As a theme, Bayer referred to this body of work as a sequence of 11 photocollages titled Man and Dream. The 10 photocollages that preceded In Search of Times Past all date between 1929-32. They are: Look Into Life; The Lonely Metropolitan; Bone Breaker; Language of Letters; Monument; Creation; Frontal Profile; The Man Wins or The Kiss; Self-Portrait; and Good Night Marie. The final assemblage, In Search of Times Past, is regarded as a contemplative overview of the entire series and the only photocollage made by him during this later period.

Bayer worked several elements of this collage with intricate precision. Many of the elements are photographic cut-outs applied to the surface of the actual print while the two large (colored) eyes at the right of the image are made of half-tone elements with the application of pen and ink accentuating eyelashes and subtleties within the pupil area. Some of the minute details, such as the burl on the tree trunks, many of which were recreated as human eyes, or the twigs between the trunks, that were interrupted by the collaged additions, were then painstakingly in-painted with gouache or ink on the surface of the assemblage.

This vintage print is unique.