Wendy Lin

A former fashion model covers World War II as a war correspondent. Lee Miller’s life itself seems to parallel her own Surrealist photographic work at the Getty Museum’s latest exhibit entitled “Surrealist Muse: Lee Miller, Roland Penrose, and Man Ray.” The exhibit spans Miller’s work on both sides of the camera-- from her early years as a fashion model as a creative influence upon mentors Ray and Penrose to her later years as a World War II war correspondent. The black and white photography of Miller’s work is critical not only because it documents the war and post-war effects on Europe, but also because it illustrates Miller’s rebellious nature and bold feminine perspective, making her a powerful female name in 20th century photography.

Earlier photographs exhibit Miller’s defiant personality and the striking good looks that led her to leave home at nineteen to become an art student and fashion model. One photograph that exemplifies these traits shows Miller posing for a feminine hygiene ad for Kotex. It raised eyebrows and may have given her the name recognition for a lucrative modeling career. Her beauty as a model also gave her the access to fashion photographers and exposure to the basics of photographic techniques and style. With this experience, she eventually qualified to become an assistant, collaborator, apprentice, and lover to famed photographer Man Ray.

Miller soaked up the Surrealist movement within Ray’s work as well as from other Surrealist artists that inspired and shaped her own artistic style. Surrealism blurs the line between reality and imagination, with artists often juxtaposing subjects in contrast to their expected and usual context. Ray’s portraits of Miller in dreamlike expressions illustrate these Surrealist themes and further, inspired Miller’s own creative impulses. Her lively attitude also aroused Penrose’s artistry, and in one painting, he depicts Miller as a person of three elements: her head as the sun, her body as the sky, and her feet as the earth. The Surrealist movement, combined with Miller’s adventurous streak, becomes particularly apparent in her photographs of Egyptian deserts. Her use of framing and perspective seemingly transform the bland desert into a fantastical and illusory landscape.

However, Miller’s most powerful work emerges in late 1942 during World War II, when she is credited as a war correspondent for Vogue magazine and becomes the only female combat photographer in European war zones. Miller’s daring confidence is reflected in the photographs in which she dons military fatigues while smiling a gap-toothed grin, posing next to soldiers and military jeeps. She explores Surrealist themes even further in this period, photographing everyday people and everyday life in the frays of war-torn Europe. A fashion model posing before posters announcing the liberation of Paris. A cluster of people strolling through a graveyard. The juxtaposition of life and death, growth and decay, all express a calm surrealism and search for beauty in a war-ravaged Europe.

More intriguing are Miller’s photographs in Germany at the end of the war. Many Nazi elites elected to commit suicide rather than surrender after the Third Reich’s collapse, and Miller’s discovery of these bodies is captured on film. Whether it is individuals slumped over sofas and chairs, a hanged body, or a drowned SS guard, Miller characterizes death in a quiet, trancelike focus so that the individuals almost appear if they are sleeping. Her venture into Adolf Hitler’s home is a further extension of Surrealist qualities. By photographing everyday items such as books and statues, Miller gives Hitler’s residence a humanistic quality. Miller even takes time to playfully pose in Hitler’s own bathtub, infusing humor into the shocks of exploring Hitler’s home.

Miller’s photography and Surrealist imagery gave fashion readers a taste of death and anguish from the war in Europe. But her work has transcended beyond the fashion world, and instead her creativity and bold personality influenced prominent artists such as Picasso and Ray and gave us intense war photography not often seen through a female perspective. The exhibit itself gives Lee Miller’s legend an almost a Surrealist theme: A former fashion model is also a brilliant and intelligent photographer, leaving a lasting influence on both sides of the camera.


Lin is a healthcare consultant currently working on a project at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.