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Lee Miller

Portrait Gallery

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Object Details

Artist

Man Ray, 27 Aug 1890 - 18 Nov 1976

Sitter

Lee Miller, 23 Apr 1907 - 21 Jul 1977

Exhibition Label

Born Poughkeepsie, New York
Lee Miller spent much of her so-called “melodramatic” life as a photographer. She moved to New York City in 1926 to study at the Art Students League and soon started modeling for Vogue magazine. In 1929, Miller went to Paris, where she studied photography with and assisted the artist Man Ray. Their experiments resulted in a style that soon became a hallmark of Surrealist photography, and they often collaborated so closely that neither could recall who had made a particular work. They also became lovers, and before they parted ways in 1932, Miller often posed for Man Ray. Miller returned to New York but soon found herself back in Europe, where she worked as a fashion and war photographer. One of the few women photographers on the front lines of World War II, she produced a compelling and expansive documentation of everything from women’s involvement in the war to the liberation of the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps.
Nacida en Poughkeepsie, Nueva York
Lee Miller pasó gran parte de su llamada vida “melodramática” como fotógrafa. Se mudó a la Ciudad de Nueva York en 1926 para estudiar en la Liga de Estudiantes de Arte y pronto comenzó a modelar para la revista Vogue. En 1929, Miller fue a París, donde estudió fotografía con el artista Man Ray, de quien también fue asistente. Sus experimentos resultaron en un estilo que pronto se convirtió en el sello distintivo de la fotografía surrealista y a menudo colaboraron tan a fondo que ninguno de los dos era capaz de recordar quién había realizado una obra en particular. Además, fueron amantes y, antes de separarse en 1932, Miller posó en repetidas ocasiones para Man Ray. Miller regresó a Nueva York pero pronto volvió a Europa, donde trabajó como fotógrafa de moda y de guerra. Siendo una de las pocas fotógrafas en el frente de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, documentó de manera cautivadora y extensa todo lo que pudo, desde la participación de las mujeres en la guerra a la liberación de los campos de concentración de Buchenwald y Dachau.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Date

c. 1930

Object number

NPG.2000.62

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© Man Ray 2015 Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2025

Type

Photograph

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image/Sheet: 8.6 x 6.8cm (3 3/8 x 2 11/16")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Location

Currently not on view

Data Source

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Interior\Studio\Photography
Lee Miller: Female
Lee Miller: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Photographer\War photographer
Lee Miller: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Fashion model
Lee Miller: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Photographer\Fashion photographer
Portrait

Metadata Usage

Usage conditions apply

Link to Original Record

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4dcfcbf6c-28c1-4878-8458-6cb2def87b0c

Record ID

npg_NPG.2000.62

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American Women Photographers and Selected Works

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