The Incredible Lee Miller
I discovered Lee Miller when I was mindlessly scrolling on Facebook and saw an astonishing photo which had been colorized. The photo was of Lee Miller taking a soak in Hitler’s bathtub at the end of the war. She was a beautiful woman with unbelievable bone structure and mesmerizing eyes. Her dirty combat boots were in front of the tub. As I did a little research, I discovered that she had been taking photos at Dachau concentration camp earlier that day, so the mud on those boots on Hitler’s bath mat was from Dachau.
Colorized photo of Lee Miller in Hitler’s bathtub
I was immediately intrigued and thought I would learn more about a female war photographer, but what I discovered was so much more. Lee had an amazing life BEFORE becoming a combat photographer. She was born into an upper class, unusual family who were progressive and eccentric. Lee and her two brothers had lots of adventures in their Poughkeepsie, N.Y. home. Her father was an innovator, businessman and inventor. He was interested in photography and took nude pictures of Lee. In reading about him and seeing the photos, I believe it was at best a very unhealthy relationship with unhealthy boundaries, and at worst, incestuous. To add to that, Lee was molested by a work colleague of her father’s at age 7, and contracted a sexually transmitted disease and she had to undergo difficult medical treatment for this as a young child. Lee was incredibly resilient. She was intelligent and curious, she studied theater, maintained her interest in photography and eventually became a model, discovered by Conde Nast as he pulled her out of the way of an oncoming car on the streets of New York City. Lee graced the cover of Vogue in 1927.
The next phase of Lee’s life was learning about photography as an art with surrealist artist Man Ray in Paris. She and Man were a couple, and Lee was sort of the “It girl” of the surrealist movement. In my opinion, Man was a jerk and was jealous of Lee’s independence and her desire to develop her own photography skills. After her time in Paris, she returned to New York and pursued photography, opening her own studio. In the ‘30s she married an Egyptian diplomat who wanted a traditional wife/hostess and this was NOT Lee. Right before the outbreak of the war she was England and had begun an affair with Roland Penrose.
Lee became a war correspondent and photographer for Vogue. I find her photography of the war years very unique. Perhaps reflective of her involvement of the surrealist movement, there is always some unusual aspect to her photos. She also tended to train her lens on women. I loved this compilation of photos from The Guardian.
After the war, Lee married Roland Penrose, becoming Lady Penrose. They had a son and Lee became an accomplished chef and authored a cookbook. Artists and friends, like Picasso, came to her English country home to visit and partake of her fabulous meals. However, her life was not idyllic. Lee struggled with depression and alcoholism due to her traumatic war experiences. I think she also suffered from earlier traumas and a lifetime of dealing with a misogynistic society and partners trying to limit her talent and reduce her to a beautiful object.
In addition to researching Lee’s life and photography online, I read an excellent book by Carolyn Burke, Lee Miller: A Life. Burke’s book is well researched, detailed, and a fascinating read. Burke includes photos of Lee during her modeling career, as well as Lee’s photos. I highly recommend this book.
I was thrilled to learn that Kate Winslet will be starring in a feature film as Lee! I love Kate Winslet and believe she is the perfect choice to play Lee. I’m so glad that this extraordinary woman’s story will be shared with the wider public.
