Sunday, January 01, 2012

Lee Miller: Through the Mirror



















"She worked hard for her luck." So observes, aptly, Lee Miller's fellow photographer and running buddy David Scherman in Sylvain Roumette's Lee Miller: Through the Looking Glass (1995). This documentary, running less than an hour, left me wanting to learn much more even than I'd previously read about Miller (1907-1977), who worked at both ends of a camera and with the likes of Man Ray, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, as well as, during the Second World War, Scherman. During her stint as a war photojournalist, she took shots in and around Dachau and Munich in 1945, and was photographed by Scherman in Hitler's abandoned bathtub as the Third Reich collapsed. 

Fascinating film, thanks in large part to the interest, preservation efforts and observations of Anthony Penrose, Lee Miller's and Roland Penrose's son. 

Here's where to go to see much more -- the Lee Miller Archives: http://www.leemiller.co.uk/

Today's Rune: Harvest.  

5 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I've actually seen quite a few of her WWII photos. Amazing work

the walking man said...

She had a touch with a shutter but her archived prints were still a bit pricey for me. She was a beauty though/

Cloudia said...

was JUST looking at one of her shots in the New Yorker and it got me thinking. . . . . then to see her here !!!! You mind reader you, Erik!

Ever heard of my in-law uncle Louis Clyde Stoumen ?


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jodi said...

Erik, my girlfriend had a hair salon called 'The Looking Glass'. It was the 80's and where I went to have my hair dyed, fried, and blown to the side! teehee..

Erik Donald France said...

Thanks, all for the comments -- much appreciated ~~

Cloudia, cool -- I may do a brief Q & A with you on that ~~

Jodi, one of my hangouts in Chapel Hill was the Looking Glass Cafe. Also in the 80s, come to think of it.