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Lee MillerLeft: Portrait of Space, frame 3,1937. Below right: Self-portrait inHeadband, published 1933Eamonn MCCabe,photographer and former picture editorof the GuardianLee Miller was the original superwoman.Beautiful, passionate, clever, greatphotographer, great cook and greatwriter. She was also incredibly brave. AsDon McCullin observed: “To have gonefrom being idolised and loved andturned into a beauty icon… to live in atrench, be shelled and live on tinnedfood with the fear of dying any moment– that shows real credibility andcourage.”I know her best as a wonderfulphotographer with a real sense of styleand wit. Her photograph of Women withFire Masks, taken during the war inLondon in 1941, is one of the mostperfect photographs I have ever seen. Itcombines documentary with fashion,shape, form and humour. Brilliant!And my idea of the perfectphotograph is one Miller took early inher career in 1932 in New York, and she isin it. It is the perfect self-portrait, withher sitting in a chair, brilliantly lit fromone side, dressed in a beautiful gownand a simple headband, but she doeslook thoughtful – did she know thenwhere her life might lead?Whitney Otto,author of How to make an Americanquilt (Ballantine)First, I fell in love with Lee Miller’s face.Before I was familiar with herphotographic work, it was Lee inpictures taken by Man Ray, Steichen,Genthe, Horst, Hoyningen-Huene thatcaught my attention. It was Man Ray’spainting of her lips, floating on canvas.While writers frequently borrow thelives of other people for their novels, it isLee’s physicality that inspires mycharacters. In this way, I “photograph”her with words. Her beauty isextraordinary because it isn’t limited toan elegant image. It’s easy to sense akind of shifting, unknowable aspect justbelow the surface, and so difficult tograsp its nature. Her face seduces anddisturbs.Then, one day, you stumble upon herphotographs, and suddenly it’s mucheasier to understand the allure of herface. It doesn’t matter if the picture is aself-portrait, or portrays other artists. Itcan be the “exploding hand” of a wellto-doParisian opening a glass door, or abroken church in wartime London, or theheartbreak and horror of theconcentration camps. It can be asummer picnic with friends in the Southof France. Or the empty expanse of theEgyptian desert in Portrait of Space(1938), a picture combining feelings ofenclosure and of an infinite landscape.Has there ever been a more succinctvisual statement of a life in flux?It is her Surrealist’s eye; her life thatbegan on an American farm and endedon an English one, and all thathappened in between. It’s the ease withwhich she could be both subject andphotographer, and the unease with thesecond half of her life. All of this isreflected in that gorgeous face, andthat’s why I write about her.56V&A Magazine Winter 2007 www.vam.ac.ukV&A Magazine Winter 2007 57
Lee MillerBrenda Fitzsimons,prize-winning first femalestaff photographer on theIrish TimesThank God for Lee Miller: sheis my key to a life lessordinary and a template to alife I still dream about. Shehad an incredible sense ofself which was nonnegotiable,and I always hada fascination for her. In all her“lives”, Lee lived them to thefull. She made me believeanything is possible, and Iprayed to her for guidance ata time when there werevirtually no femalephotographers in Ireland andfrankly my career guidanceteacher thought radiographywas more “womanly”.Her beauty, grace anddetermination combined tomake an extraordinary life ofsubstance. Not infrequently, Ineed to look at Lee’s work fornourishment, energy andinspiration. Behind theeffortless perfection of herpictures lies a silent witness,an unobtrusive observer, anartist. Very few femalephotographers have scaledthe heights of World PressPhotography, but she morethan punched above herweight in this mostcompetitive field ofphotojournalism. Thank you,Lee.Carolyn Burke,writer and author of LeeMiller: A Life (University ofChicago Press)I met Lee Miller monthsbefore her death in 1977. Wetalked of her life on bothsides of the camera, hermany loves and theexperiences that marked herprofoundly. She told me thatthe death camps of theSecond World War were stillwith her: “I could never getthe stench of Dachau out ofmy nostrils.” She also saidthat she had terminal cancer,which gave one perspective.Yet she hadn’t regretted amoment of her life andlooked to its end withcuriosity. This stance,meeting events as they comewithout preconceptions,impressed me deeply, at leastas much as her mesmerisinglooks and stunning artistictalent. It may be Miller’slegacy to the spirited womenof today who seek toemulate her, the reason whywe celebrate her centenaryas if she were still with us.For in many ways she is.“Lee miller made mebelieve anything ispossible, and I prayedto her for guidance”Above left: David E Scherman, LeeMiller in Hitler’s Bath, Munich,1945. Right: Dead SS Guard inCanal, Dachau, 194558V&A Magazine Winter 2007 www.vam.ac.ukV&A Magazine Winter 2007 59
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