Famous Photographers Series - Part 13 - Elizabeth (Lee) Miller
Famous Photographers Series - Part 13 - Elizabeth (Lee) Miller
"Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer. She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, where she became a fashion and fine art photographer. During the Second World War, she was a war correspondent for Vogue, covering events such as the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau." (Wikipedia)
From what I've seen and read about her, she certainly lived a VERY full life, starting with modelling, then taking variously-themed photos, then became a war photo-correspondent during WWII, accompanied the troops on the liberation of the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps, married into aristocracy, and ended up being a homemaker. Her marriage helped to bring her into close contact with celebrities, such as Man Ray and Pablo Picasso.
It is starting to get difficult collecting the photos of famous photographers, and in this case I present only 30 of her works. The photos taken at the concentration camps are somewhat graphic, but the truth is not always pleasant.
1. Anna Leska, one of three WWII Polish women pilots, 1942
2. Exhausted nurse at the 44th Evacuation Hospital, Normandy, France, 1944
3. Homeless children, Budapest, Hungary, 1946
4. Fire Masks, London, 1941
5.
6. Vienna Opera House, 1946, taken while a famous opera star is singing an operattic aria.
7. Ruins blocking doorway
8.
9.
10.
11. Two Women Sitting on a Park Bench, Cologne, Germany, 1945
12.
13. Tuskagee Airman (Great movie - the original, not the remake)
14.
15. This is the start of 6 Holocaust concentration camp photos.
16. The men's bunkhouse
17. Women Concentration Camp Guards
18. Camp Buchenwald
19. The Ovens at Dachau Concentration Camp
20. Camp Buchenwald - the rings taken from the prisoners
21. Picasso and Claude
22. Solarized Portrait
23. Carousel, 1930
24. Untitled (Iron Work) 1931
25. Object by Joseph Cornell, New York, 1933. 1933
26. Veiled Eiffel Tower from the Palais de Chaillot (Buzz note: You might have to look very carefully to see the image of the tower that has been "veiled" by mist. It is between the man with an umbrella and the far statue.)
27. Boy Wearing Scharnhorst Cap in Vienna, 1945
28. Untitled (Rat Tails) 1930
29. Egypt
30. Portrait of Space 1937
Lee Miller accompanied the American Army when it was in Munich, Germany. This is one of the most famous photos of her, taking a bath in the tub in Hitler's apartment in Munich.
The concentration camp photos look familiar, in the sense that the ones my father showed me were similar in nature.
It's a good thing for retaining the truth of history that so many have taken such photos.
Dad refused to show anyone the photo's until he showed them to me, he was ashamed of them and, he was scared that it would be too much for some to understand them and, why he had taken them, they were very hard to look at without getting emotional. Speaking of the ovens, he had one photo of an oven, a shot that was straight into the oven, it showed the skulls of several people inside, I think he said that it was still hot when they got there. Then there was the lamp shade in the commandants home, it was made of human skin, tattoo's from GI's he said.
I was not aware of her, but this essay of her photos was remarkable. Her photo of Dachau and the one of the ovens, is almost the same as one that I took of the ovens at Dachau in 1959.
Another great essay Buzz. Some really stunning photos.
I'm discovering photographers I, too, have never before heard of, and am amazed at the variety of photographic technique I've been encountering and the history I've been learning. For example, had it not been for you, I would never have heard of Roland Reed.
These are great pictures! Thanks for sharing them with us! Strange how many I recognized...
She was quite lovely and put herself in some tough places to photograph. Have been to Dachau, but remember our guide telling us that the ovens were never used for their intended purpose.
That's denial on the part of the Guide. I've seen photos from the Nazi records that show human bodies being inserted into the ovens. The guilty are bound to deny. I've also seen Japanese military photographic and film records of young girls being raped and then bayonets shoved into them through their vaginas, all of which the present Japanese ignore as well.
It is amazing how we as a people try to deny that humans can be so inhuman.
All I know is what the guide told us. He told us at Auschitz (sp) is where they used the ovens.
I neglected to say that the Japanese records were from their rape of Nanjing, China, during WWII. There was just a nation-wide memorializing of it here a couple of days ago. They did a similar thing that some western countries to, in that at a certain time the cities' sirens sound, and everything comes to a standstill for a couple of minutes.
It is good that we never forget what happened during that war.
Maybe they used the ovens only to bake really big pizzas - that's why you see those two rollers at the mouth of the ovens.
Darn if I know.
Magnolia, you really can't be serious here. Come on.
Well, really, if the guide tells you that the ovens were never used....what? Is he lying? Heck, I don't know. Maybe, the intent was to use them, but they didn't.
6 million Jews died in those camps over the time of the war, the Nazi's had to think of new and, inventive ways to kill so many, in one case the camp had a special bus, the outside of it was painted with a mural of a party scene on both sides, the drivers compartment was sealed off from the rest of the bus and, the tail pipe of the bus went into the passenger compartment, as the bus drove down the street of the town it was in, music played from loud speakers mounted on the bus, that was to keep the people in the town from hearing the screams of the people inside the bus who were dying from the carbon dioxide fumes in the bus. Then the bus was taken back to the camp, to the ovens and, the bodies burned.
Thanks, but I believe we all know this. The guide said the ovens were used at Auswiitz (sp)
Black and white photos of genre subjects and in conjunction with photo journalism, have a "classic" look almost inherently. And while every photograph represents a moment-in-time, those in black and white somehow seem to do so more effectively than full color photos.
I have some opinions as to why I think that is so … an article for another day maybe.
I've decided that my next Part to the series will be about Henri Cartier-Bresson. After that, perhaps Diane Arbus. Then I will seek out some more esoteric ones.
Buzz you may want to do a photo essay of Thomas Mangelsen...One of the great wildlife photographers of all time.
He was also good friends of Dr. Jane Goodall...This is a photo he took of her. It's titled Dr. Goodall at a Nebraska Sunset.
Agreed!
This is one of my favorites of his...entitled ''The Edge of Midnight''
Hi Buzz,
That is an amazing photo essay. I think I have only seen one of those photos before. Obviously, many of the photos are quite disturbing, but she really did capture the moment. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Having viewed some of the photographs taken by Thomas Mangelsen, thanks to Kavika's suggestion, I am extremely impressed and instead of Henri Cartier-Bresson my next Famous Photographer's article will be about Mangelsen.
Here are just two examples of his photography (Kavika has already posted two others above).
I'm sitting here right now looking through Mangelsen's art book entitled ''Natural World''...
Really great photos, looking forward to seeing your essay of Mangelsen, Buzz.
I was at the Mangelson Gallery in the Denver Airport (at least I think that’s where it was).
His talent and the print process used to reproduce his images are a must to see to fully appreciate how he captures nature.
When I grow up I’d like to be Mangelson.