The Art of Lee Miller at the Victoria & Albert Museum

Lee Miller (1901-1977) was one of those people who seemed to have had many lives – photographer, model, writer and actress are some of the roles for which she is most well-known. The exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum attempts to encompass the full breadth of Miller’s work. Previous shows have tended to focus on one aspect or on her relationship to the artists in her circle.

Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Miller first travelled to Europe to study theatre. However, she had a desire to work in front of as well as behind the camera. She became acquainted with Man Ray and her iconic beauty was immortalized in his photos. She became his lover as well as his student, and began to develop her own accomplished body of work.

Miller not only modelled for Vogue but was employed by the magazine as a photographer and writer. She contributed fashion self-portraits to the French edition of Vogue and later worked as a World War II correspondent for the American edition.

The exhibition covers the various stages of Miller’s life, including work in which she is the subject as well as work in which she is the photographer. There are also some self-portraits in which she is both the subject and the photographer. Most compelling is her coverage of World War II. As a woman photographing the horrors of war in the 1940’s, Miller truly made her mark. The exhibition also includes Miller’s associations with some giants of her time, such as Picasso, Henry Moore, Man Ray and the Surrealist painter Colin Penrose, who became her husband. This is a fascinating exhibition of Lee Miller’s complex character and art.