à l'heure de l'observatoire les amoureux, 1934 (lips from lee miller) by salvador daliphotograph by george hoyningen-huene, 1932photograph by man ray, 1932photograph by arnold genthe, 1927in sweden taken by her father, 1930photograph by man ray, 1929in a black satin gown by jeanne lanvin & boucheron jewels for vogue, photograph by edward steichen, may 1931with husband roland penrose, ca. 1940s in hitler's tub, photograph by david schermer, 1945with pablo picasso, liberation of paris, 1944women firewatchers london, photograph by lee miller, 1940
lee miller was born in poughkeepsie, new york in 1907. in 1927 she was discovered by condé nast) when he pulled the 20 year old miller from the path of an oncoming car. she would have a short but successful career as a vogue cover girl over the next 2 years, being photographed by edward steichen, arnold genthe & nikolas muray among others. her career was ended when a photograph taken by steichen was used for a kotex ad causing quite a sensation.
in 1929 she traveled to paris with a letter of introduction from steichen to meet man ray. she became his protege, collaborator & lover for the next 3 years. together with man ray, she discovered the photographic technique of solarisation when a mouse ran over her foot & she accidentally exposed the dark room to light.
she was an active participant in the surrealist movement, counting among her circle of friends pablo picasso, paul éluard, max ernst, joan miró & jean cocteau. she appeared as a statue in cocteau's the blood of a poet in 1930 & was painted several times by picasso - she was even rumored to have been a lover of charles chaplin. photojournalist john phillips called her "an american free spirit wrapped in the body of a greek goddess."
she set up her own photographic studio & during world war II she documented the london blitz for vogue & worked as a correspondent for the u.s. army, shooting the siege of saint-malo & the liberations of buchenwald, dachau & paris.
a year or so after the end of the war, miller returned to london. she was depressed, exhausted & drinking heavily. her life had been consumed with war for the past seven years, & like many war veterans, she seemed unable to make the transition to peace. during this time she divorced her first husband, egyptian millionaire & art patron aziz eloui bey (they had married in 1934). she reunited with her lover, artist & art historian roland penrose & became pregnant with their son antony.
she stopped taking photographs in the early 1950s & refused to allow any of her photographs to be shown & rejected all attempts to interview her. she devoted the rest of her life to collecting cooking recipes & remained withdrawn, depressed & drinking heavily until her death in 1977.