Lee Miller was born in 1907 in Poughkeepsie, New York. She
first entered the world of photography in New York as a model
to such great photographers as Edward Steichen, Hoyningen-Huene
and Arnold Genthe and later worked with Man Ray in Paris,
establishing her own studio. Known as a portraitist and fashion
photographer, she also made many remarkable Surrealist images;
in 1939 she became a staff photographer for Vogue magazine
just as the war broke out. Astoundingly for the time, Miller
became an accredited correspondent to the US Army, and was
probably the only woman combat photojournalist to cover the
war in Europe.
The
exhibition consists of 96 photographs spanning Lee Miller’s
career, including portraits of great artists and personalities
such as Picasso, Chaplin, and Joseph Cornell. Also on view
will be a video of The Lives of Lee Miller by Tony Penrose,
made for Channel 4 Television (UK) in 1986.
The
exhibition is organized and lent by the Lee Miller Archive;
tour development and management by Johnstone Associates, Auckland
& Melbourne. The show is supported by the Canada Council
for the Arts and the British Council.
