9 minute read
Lights, Camera, Action!
A new film starring Kate Winslet brings to life the extraordinary chronicles of the Vogue model and photographer Lee Miller. Dream Escape loves to bring interested clients to Lee's home (Farley Farm, East Sussex) and was thrilled to chat with her son recently, who shares his memories – and secrets – of his remarkable mother...
With her golden curls and pillar-box red lips, Lee Miller was an obvious choice for the cover of Vogue; at least that was what the publisher Condé Nast thought during a chance encounter in Manhattan in the Roaring Twenties.
The natural beauty proceeded to pose for the photographers Nickolas Muray, Arnold Genthe and Edward Steichen.
But Lee’s dazzling smile disguised a childhood pockmarked with trauma – a result of a family friend's inappropriate attention when she was seven. Lee suffered years of physical discomfort and emotional turmoil. During this time – while just a child – her father, an amateur photographer, chose to photograph her undressed.
Brave and bohemian, fiery and fiercely intelligent, Lee was destined to be more than a man’s muse. So when her image advertised sanitary products – a taboo back in 1929, which devastated her modelling career – she had the impetus to move to Paris.
NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE
It was in Paris – the City of Love – that Lee became the pupil and lover of the American photographer Man Ray.
A force to be reckoned with, the duo practised solarisation – a technique that plays with black and white tones – in a Parisian dark room.
By 1930, Lee had established a photography studio in Paris, and was making a name for herself with her Surrealist works.
But for Lee, Surrealism wasn’t just an art movement that juxtaposed dreamlike and realistic forms. “Surrealism was an attraction of opposites to convention,” explains her son, Antony Penrose. “It was Lee’s rebellion to the constraints of American society.
When she arrived in Paris and became Man Ray’s assistant and lover, he understood that. Surrealism was how Lee saw the world. It was a way of life; it was sexual freedom. Lee loved finding the marvellous in the ordinary, the irrational in the rational, order in chaos. Lee was a Surrealist before it even had a name.”
After a hedonistic few years in Paris, Lee returned to New York to establish another photography studio.
Strong and self-sufficient, Lee proudly rewired the studio herself, but ultimately found photographing the rich and famous – including Charlie Chaplin –unfulfilling work.
When Lee fell in love with Aziz Eloui Bey – a wealthy Egyptian businessperson – she relocated to Cairo. “Aziz offered her an exit route from New York, a new adventure and financial security,” Antony explains.
Lee shot some of her most striking works in the Egyptian desert, most notably Portrait of Space, a Surrealist landscape taken inside a shelter in Siwa Oasis in 1937.
Feeling constrained by Egyptian society, that same year, Lee travelled to Paris where she met the Surrealist artist Roland Penrose – and so began a secret love affair.
Surrealism was how Lee saw the world. It was a way of life; it was sexual freedom. Lee loved finding the marvellous in the ordinary, the irrational in the rational, order in chaos. Lee was a Surrealist before it even had a name.
SEALED WITH A KISS
“Darling, darling, darling, darling, darling. I want you”, Lee wrote to Roland in 1937 – to which he replied, “while crossing the Channel, Darling, Here I am on a boat and thinking every minute of you... I sing to myself ‘out of sight out of mind’ but without any effect as I can’t get you out of my sight even, especially as Man gave me last night three very beautiful photos of you which are so like you and so marvellous that I can hardly resist licking them.”
After travelling with Roland around Romania and Greece, Lee left Aziz and moved to the UK to live with her lover.
LIFE ON THE FRONTLINE
As a photographer for Vogue and the US Army, Lee became one of the few female photographers on the frontline during WWII.
Lee captured fighting in Luxembourg, US troops on D Day, the German siege of St Malo and the liberation of Paris, as well as Hitler’s house on fire on the eve of Germany’s surrender. And when Allied forces released prisoners from Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps, Lee captured the horror.
“She arrived in Dachau the day after it had been liberated,” Antony explains. “She would have been looking for her friends among the people in the camps, as many garment workers she knew from Paris were Jewish. Surrealists were also dissidents.”
Lee found herself on the other side of the camera, too, when David Scherman snapped her having a bath in Hitler’s Munich apartment in 1945.
THE POSTWAR YEARS
After the war, Lee continued to shoot compelling images – of children dying in Vienna, and the Hungarian Prime Minister László Bárdossy’s execution – alongside fashion models and celebrities. In 1947, Lee married Roland, moved to Farleys House in East Sussex and gave birth to Antony. However, Lee turned to alcohol to forget her troubled childhood and posttraumatic stress disorder.
“Lee’s mood changes were incomprehensible,” Antony recalls. “She could be warm, then bitter 20 minutes later. She was never violent, but she was tough with words. I kept my distance from her. It was the safest thing to do.”
By the 1950s, Lee had abandoned commercial photography to devote herself to taking photos of their artist friends Man Ray, Joan Miró, Picasso and Antoni Tàpies for Roland’s biographies.
Lee’s mood changes were incomprehensible... she could be warm, then bitter 20 minutes later. She was never violent, but she was tough with words. I kept my distance from her. It was the safest thing to do.
CREATIVE CUISINE
She also found solace in the kitchen. “Lee’s way out of depression was to reinvent herself as a chef,” says Antony. “She stashed her photos in boxes and took a Le Cordon Bleu course in Paris. She experimented with colours and brought Surrealism into the kitchen – making blue spaghetti or pink cauliflower breasts with cherry tomatoes as nipples. Bringing girlfriends home was risky.
“The literary critic Cyril Connolly visited Farleys and ranted how Americans had the intellectual rigour of marshmallows and would one day drown in Coca-Cola,” Antony continues. “Lee smiled, then made a dessert resembling chocolate mousse decorated with fruit. It looked fabulous, and everyone gobbled it up. When Cyril asked what was in it she said, "Coca-Cola and marshmallows’.”
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Lee passed away at Farleys in 1977. Her legacy lives on through the Lee Miller Archives – 60,000 negatives, Lee’s cameras and US Army uniform, and photos by the Penroses and Man Ray.
Visitors can discover more about Lee on guided tours of Farleys House and Gallery, which opened to the public in 2000. Highlights include a Surrealist fireplace; Picasso, Man Ray and Miró’s works; Surrealist and photography classes, and the chance to sample Lee’s recipes. There’s also a sculpture garden and a 19th-century grain barn gallery.
Its latest exhibition 'Love Letters Bound in Gold Handcuffs' (to 29 October 2023), is named after the Cartier handcuffs Roland gave his lover during their years apart. It’s dedicated to the letters Lee and Roland exchanged, which are on display for the first time.
“I wrestled with whether to publish them,” Antony explains. “The 1980s were inhibited, not like now, so I was cautious about talking publically about Lee’s rape and alcoholism. But when I mentioned them at a talk, a woman in tears said, ‘You’ve been telling my story, and this is the first time anyone has.’ I thought if Lee’s experiences can help repressed people, then the letters have a purpose.”
The letters have also inspired a new book and podcast of the same name, and the film Lee. Antony hopes his mother will inspire more people when Kate Winslet plays her. “Yes, she was beautiful,” he says. “But she’d also like to be known as a casual provocateur –someone who encouraged others to do something they would otherwise not have done.
“Lee was also meaningful to women. She never spoke about how difficult it was for a woman to succeed, but women are at a constant disadvantage. They have to fight so much more than men. I want that to end. I want parity,” Antony adds. “I hope that’s what viewers will take away from the film.” Lee will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September, with a general release date to be announced shortly.
Stay in East Sussex and visit Farley Farm on an ultimate tailored escape...
On a Dream Escape itinerary of Sussex, guests can enjoy a private visit to Farley Farm, home of the Lee Miller Archives, stay in exquisite accommodation and visit local attractions, including Sissinghurst Castle and Great Dixter House & Gardens.
Nestled in the picturesque South Downs, the county town of Lewes is a cultural haven with a rich artistic and literary history. The site of a Norman castle, it is lined with crooked Tudor houses and surrounded by the scenic landscapes that inspired the Bloomsbury Group. Nearby, the Charleston farmhouse and St Michael and All Angels Church in Berwick feature beautiful murals and artwork. Alfriston village, meanwhile, charms visitors with its flint cottages, independent shops and riverside walks. Other must-visit spots include the Rathfinny Wine Estate and Firle Place manor house, while Harvey's Brewery offers an out-of-hours tour. Stay at The Star in Alfriston or Gravetye Manor for a charming English country-house experience.
• To find out more and plan your trip email enquiries@dreamescape.co.uk
WORDS | SARAH RICHES
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