Author: Magda Z.
Marlene Dietrich poses in dramatic light in a ruffled robe. Nearby, a crowd mocks four women with shaved heads accused of ties to the Nazis. Further on, you can see the victims of the Dachau concentration camp and the liberated prisoners standing over a pile of human bones. Lee Miller's photographs continue to inspire and provoke
Elisabeth Miller was born in 1907 in Poughkeepsie, a small industrial town 90 miles north of New York City. From an early age, she showed artistic tendencies, encouraged by her father Theodore, an engineer and amateur photographer. It was he who gave her her first camera when she was 10 years old. She found solace in the darkroom, it became her sanctuary from the shadows of her past. As a child, she was a victim of sexual abuse, hidden by her mother out of fear of the reactions of those around her. And so she began to pour her emotions into the art of photography, using it as a means of self-expression and healing.
Gateway to the world
Even at a young age, she was fueled by an insatiable desire for adventure. When she was only 18, she convinced her father to let her go to Paris, a city teeming with cultural splendor and intellectual fervor. There she began her education at L'École Medgyès pour la Technique du Théatre. She also studied at the Art Students League in New York, and it was there that she was noticed by the editor of American Vogue . Her regular, classic facial features quickly catapulted her to a modeling career - as a twenty-year-old, Lee tasted fame.
Soon, however, being a beautiful object was no longer enough for her. She wanted to create herself, she missed Paris. So she returned to the capital of France, where she felt at home - she knew the Parisian bohemia, attended banquets, and met great artists, such as Pablo Picasso .
In the bohemia of Paris, Miller met the American surrealist Man Ray. First an enchanted student, then a muse, lover and collaborator, together with her mentor she threw herself into artistic endeavors. However, the relationship was overshadowed by the man's jealousy, which led to the breakup of the relationship in 1930. Suffice it to say that although Miller was a co-author of Ray's photographic works, her contribution was often not mentioned.
Visionary surrealist
In 1932, after the breakup of her relationship, Lee Miller went to New York, where she started a new chapter by founding a photography studio. She quickly attracted the attention of notable clients such as Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, which strengthened her reputation in the industry. Two years later, in 1934, she went to Egypt, where she married wealthy businessman Aziz Eloui Bey. Amid the vibrant landscape of Egypt, Lee found inspiration for her surrealist works, such as " Portrait of Space " from 1937. However, her stay in Egypt was marked by growing disappointment - she was bored with the lavish lifestyle she led. After the breakdown of her marriage with Aziz, she once again returned to the artistic paradise - Paris.
There she met the British surrealist painter Roland Penrose, whom she married. The marital idyll was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Faced with the threat, Lee and Roland decided to move to London, where Miller returned to Vogue as a photographer and reporter. Working with editor Audrey Withers, she delved deeper into documenting the grim reality of war. She captured, among others: the destruction in English cities bombed by German air raids, the courage of soldiers and pilots during the Battle of Britain.
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Road to the front
Vogue, however, did not intend to turn Miller into a war correspondent, which was what she wanted. She joined the front line on behalf of Condé Nast Publications as a correspondent for the United States Army. There, she took her first photos in a field hospital in Normandy, where - as she recalled - she witnessed the tireless efforts of doctors and nurses performing countless operations every day.
Soon after, Miller found herself in the middle of the Battle of Saint-Malo, documenting the harrowing effects of napalm. As the war progressed, it followed just behind the advancing front line towards the German border; she was one of the first journalists to arrive in liberated Paris.
She consistently sought to capture the raw truth in her war photographs. During the liberation of the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps in April 1945, she uncompromisingly documented the terrible atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. The day after being captured during the Dachau atrocities, she posed for an iconic portrait: in Hitler's bathtub. Washing herself in it after his death, in his Munich apartment, she looks tired. Her shoes are on the floor and there is a photo of the Führer on the bathtub. This striking, symbolic photograph was taken by her friend, photographer David E. Scherman.
Post-traumatic stress syndrome
Artistic sensitivity combined with tragic visions of war left their mark on Lee. In 1947, after the war, she discovered that she was expecting her only child, Antony Penrose, who later wrote the book "The Lives of Lee Miller" , on which the film "Lee" was based. With my own eyes . Taking on a new role, she delved into the world of housewives, showcasing her culinary skills and talent for keeping order at home. However, harrowing memories of the war haunted her, leading to a lifelong battle with depression and alcoholism.
She died, suffering from depression, at the age of 70 (1977). For a while, her work was forgotten - even her own family was unaware of what she had experienced during the war until they found her negatives. Now, five decades later, she is the subject of a film that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. There is also an exhibition dedicated to her at the Gagosian gallery in New York, where you can purchase some of the prints of her works.
