Lee Miller

[Tronhard]

I have been indulging a burgeoning interest in the history of photography via a series of lectures on the World History of Photography at the University of Auckland. This series is part of a set of Art History units and the material on the history of art side of photography was something that inspired me to look closer. It was then that I discovered the intriguing, amazing and someways tragic life of Lee Miller.

She progressed from stunning model: the face of the 20's and 30's for Vogue, to photographer - saying she much preferred to be on the other side of the camera. She learned her craft from some of the great names who photographed her. Going to Paris to life with Man Ray and becoming a member of the surrealist movement - showing great technical and artistic talent as a portrait, fashion and artistic photographer. While in the UK during WWII she became a war photographer and journalist, creating some of the iconic images from the home front, and after the invasion of Europe, the front line, and bringing the horrors of the concentration camps to Americans. The war's end saw her suffering from PTSD, and an addiction to alcohol and barbiturates. She settled in England and gave up photography to become a cordon bleu chef of note before her death in 1977.

Her work was hidden in the vaults of various art institutes, magazines and her own trunks until her son found them. She had downplayed her work after the war and refused access to anyone wanting to study her images. Luckily her son made it his mission to find her widely scattered work and bring the results of this multi-talented artist to the world. Since then several biographies and at least one film have been made of her life.

The Lives of Lee Miller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU-72h4pSDk

If you are interested in the life of a great photographer, a surrealist, "new woman", and an intriguing character, a study of her life is well worth the effort.

[Shadowman]

Nice link and information.