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Post by Jazz on Feb 24, 2009 3:45:03 GMT
"Imagine your lover is Man Ray, your mentor is Edward Steichen, and your circle of friends includes Brassai, Jean Cocteau, Picasso, Edward Weston and Eugene Atget." Lee Miller, (1907-1977), was born into a rather eccentric New York family. In her early life she modelled for some of her father's nude photography. She was the subject of many of Steichen's works...here she is at 36,  ![]() 1.bp.blogspot.com/_z0zxj5AsGuw/R-pAReAb-ZI/AAAAAAAAAPU/f-sSteoZ6jU/s400/Lee+Miller+by+George+Hoyningen+Huene.png[/img]  This is an example of her early work, a self portrait, 1932.  |
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Post by Jazz on Feb 24, 2009 4:07:15 GMT
Paris, 1929-1932. In 1929, at the age of 22, Lee went to Paris and immersed herself in the Surrealist world. She was fascinated by Man Ray and wanted to be his student, and more...not easy since his lover was the infamous and intriguing Kiki of Montparnasse. Very soon, she became his student, muse, lover and collaborator. Man Ray is often given sole credit for the solarisation technique, it was a collaboration. ..."In her youth she was by common consent, one of the most striking women in Paris. A popular champagne glass was moulded from her breast, and her pale hair was cut so short, in Cecil Beaton's words, 'like a sun kissed goat boy from the Appian way.' "    Lee had met an Egytian man, Azziz Eloui Bey, and although she was fond of Man Ray, she did not love him. She moved on. |
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Post by Jazz on Feb 24, 2009 4:25:59 GMT
Egypt, 1934-1937. Lee Miller married Aziz and began to explore her photographic abilities. Few photos of her work are available online.     She loved the desert, but the marriage was not working and she returned to Paris. |
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Post by Jazz on Feb 24, 2009 4:41:50 GMT
World War2 changed Lee Miller's life irrevocably, as it did for so many others. She moved from in front of the camera to behind the camera. Lee was one of the five female war correspondents in WW2. Some of her work,  Dead SS guard floating in a canal near Dachau, 1945,       The war ended and Lee married Roland Penrose in 1947. Penrose was an English artist, historian and poet. Their home, Farley Farm, in Sussex, England became a kind of salon ,or oasis, for travelling artists. The latter years of Lee Miller's life were not happy. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 24, 2009 7:08:22 GMT
I knew who Lee Miller was, but very little about her -- this is so interesting! I have to say I like the photo of her at 36 best, when she's looking a little battered by life.
Would love to see more of her photography -- thanks so much for the taste of it here, as well as for the great capsule biography.
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Post by Jazz on Feb 24, 2009 7:25:40 GMT
I love that photo of her as well. There is a great biography, with many photos, The Lives of Lee Miller, by Antony Penrose, her son.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2009 7:33:39 GMT
When I see photographs like this, I am always so dismayed at how we amateurs so rarely can get the shadows to look right. Professional photographers make it look so simple!
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 24, 2009 7:43:27 GMT
And they do their own developing, too, so they're in control of the picture from start to finish.
I love the one of the screen.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2009 12:19:23 GMT
Thank you jazz, I became aware of Lee Miller in the last ten years or so. Prior to her son's biography she was more of a footnote to Man Ray and others. Her latter years were tragic and sad indeed. I hope that history will treat her more kindly and come to appreciate her work as brilliant and her endeavors throughout the WWII truly heroic. Her son's bio is a great read.
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