To say Lee Miller was multifaceted would be an understatement. First she was a model, appearing on the cover of Vogue in the spring of 1927, representing what the then-editor-in-chief Edna Woolman Chase believed was the true “modern girl.” In true Miller fashion, though, she toed the line — eventually posting for a tampon advert and causing uproar within the modelling community. This would be a blessing for the surrealist art movement, though, as shortly after she set up her own photographer studio, realising that she picked up a thing or two during her time being in front of the lens.
Before she would meet her second husband, surrealist painter Roland Penrose, she already became something of a traveller; exploring Paris and working under surrealist artist Man Ray and eventually meeting — and eventually marrying — Egyptian businessman Aziz Eloui Bey which would see her move to Cairo. When World War II began, she was living in Hampstead, London with Penrose. It would be here where everything for Miller would change.
To learn about the true Lee Miller, it’s best to speak to those closest to her. Antony Penrose, the son of Lee and Roland, is the director of the Lee Miller Archive and Penrose Collection at his parents’ former home, Farley Farm House. With the release of Lee, the biographical drama film about Lee Miller’s life, Penrose has been busy, but it’s been a longtime coming for the family. Lee tells the story of his mother who would become an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue during the second world war. After a decade in the making (and a few potential films of Miller’s life that fell through), it would take the incomparable Kate Winslet to change everything. “There were times when we licensed projects, and most of the time, it didn’t get made due to funding,” explains Penrose. “But she [Winslet] was so determined for this to happen that she stepped in herself. When somebody does that, you’re just like, “Wow, major commitment.”
What speaks to Winslet’s dedication to telling Lee Miller’s story authentically is the extent she pushed to get it made. After being given a copy of The Lives of Lee Miller, penned by Miller’s son, Antony Penrose, she did what she could to learn more and more about the photographer. She acted as a Miller groupie of sorts — attending every and any Lee Miller exhibit that she could. After funding fell through for a different film, Winslet saw Troy Lum, the film’s producer, and asked him to get involved.
“What both of us really love about this script is its grittiness,” remarks Penrose’s daughter and Miller’s granddaughter, Ami Bouhassane. “Lee could easily be portrayed as this beautiful woman because many artists photographed her; she was a muse. But they’ve shown her all sides, and they’re not scared to do that. I think a lot of that is because of Kate. They had a strong team of female directors and writers behind it, as well as Kate, who understood that they don’t necessarily have to show her in a glamorous way all the time. That was very refreshing.”
Miller opted to compartmentalise her time during the war, leaving her son to put the pieces together after she passed away in 1977 at the age of 70. There were 60,000 negatives in addition to newspaper clippings and Miller’s own personal journals and essays to sift through and create a timeline. It was then that Penrose decided to begin pitching to directors, curators, and museums to exhibit Lee Miller’s work. “Back then, you’d mention her, and people would say, “Lee Miller? Who’s he?” or they’d know her as “Man Ray’s muse,” says Bouhassane. “We’d spend the first 50 minutes of an hour-long meeting talking about the men who photographed her or were inspired by her, like Man Ray, Picasso, and Max Ernst. Only in the last five minutes could we talk about her amazing career and 60,000 photographs. We had to play the patriarchal game.” Penrose echoes this statement: “For the first 10-15 years of Lee Miller shows, many were just retrospectives. Each time we entered a new country, we had to educate people about who she was. Now, she’s more established, and we can do deeper dives into her work. It’s really refreshing not to hear “Lee Miller, the muse” anymore.”
It’s that DNA that emboldened Miller to pitch herself as a war correspondent for Vogue to begin with. There’s a scene in Lee where a male editor scoffs at snaps Miller had taken of women’s undergarments being hung up to dry, more or less insinuating that those moments don’t matter, or images taken by Miller of a woman and her shaved head after being accused of treachery. Miller’s perspective and eye was different than anything any other male photographer was capturing at the time.
“There’s a lot of there’s a lot of aspects of that,” Penrose states when I mention the way she’s captured people during WW II. “You can see plenty of images that could only be taken by a woman. There was a big wake up call for me when we did the Imperial War Museum show in 2015. I was puzzled by the images the female curator was selecting because there was very little conflict, so I asked what the basis of the selection was ad she said, “I’m looking for pictures that only a woman could have taken.” It’s that level of trust and intimacy. If a man had been taken in the picture, they would have been much more self conscious.”
This is something Winslet clearly picked up on during her research and preparation for Lee. She adapted a “If you’re going to do it, do it properly” mantra, getting into the tiniest of details to truly step into the role. She was adamant about the costumes, fabric, and styles being as true-to-life as possible and asked Penrose as many questions as possible.
What was most touching, though, was the lengths she went to learn how to shoot with Miller’s Rolleiflex camera and figured out the same attachments, gadgets, and more. At Farleys House, the current exhibit “Lee & LEE” pair together Miller’s photographs taken during the war with the same images Kate Winslet took on set, in addition to alongside photographs by Kimberley French, official photographer for Lee. “It’s unusual to have someone of her status so invested and caring,” says Penrose. “She was involved in every part of it. She was investing herself fully.”
Miller never fully recovered from her time at war, according to Penrose, but their family home became a refuge of sorts. She eventually put down the camera and turned to making dishes and recipes, using food as a creative tool to keep her busy. Naturally, she would become a gourmet cook and win awards for her meals — most of which are included in Lee Miller: A Life With Food, Friends & Recipes and are true surrealist works of art themselves (tomato soup cake being one of them).
Stepping on the grounds of Farleys House in East Sussex, it’s easy to feel the rich artistic history that has woven itself through the floorboards and walls. A painting from Picasso still hangs in the kitchen, knick-knacks are kept in the hallway, Penrose’s bright, flamboyant and eclectic paintings surround the grand kitchen table. After the darkness of the war, the pair wanted to be surrounded by art — allowing it to envelop every nook and cranny of the house. It’s a true artist’s home — representative of the haven it became once the war ended.
There were a lot of emotions for Penrose, Bouhassane, and the entire family after watching Lee for the first time. What mattered most to Penrose, though, was seeing his mother and her time in the war come to life in a way that was equal parts genuine and gritty. “They made the right decision by focusing on the war because they can really dive into it,” he says. “I think the most exciting part was watching images that I’ve grown up with and known all my life come to life in colour. The scriptwriters did an incredible job. We know from Lee’s writings how many of these moments happened, but seeing the side chats and interactions between the characters was fascinating.”
“Take, for example, Hitler’s bathtub, which is an iconic image of Lee’s work. We know the story behind it from David Scherman’s interviews. The picture was staged, and so was the statue. We know those details, but watching Kate Winslet and Andy Samberg recreate these scenes, discussing where to place items for the shot and how to angle the camera, and seeing all this in colour — it was really exciting.” The photo now is affixed to the wall in the Sussex home for tour goers to see for themselves.
With Miller’s son and granddaughter carrying on her legacy, one can only ask: now that the film is out, what is next? “Her life is so multifaceted, with so many incredible experiences and a remarkable career. Trying to cover everything in two hours would be impossible. I’m hoping that people will see the film, then visit the Tate Museum exhibition and realise she had an amazing career as a photographer before the war. Ideally, the exhibition will travel to America and France as well, bringing even more people to her work.” Following the release of Lee — a dynamic and unwavering look at a woman who continues to have such an impact on art and culture — one can only assume that many will do exactly what Kate Winslet did and do whatever they can to learn more about such an unflinching force of a woman.
Lee is in theatres now. Tours at Farleys House and Gallery are open now on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays until October 31st, 2024.
Words Kelsey Barnes
Photography © Lee Miller Archives, England 2024. All rights reserved. + Roland Penrose © Lee Miller Archives, England 2024. All rights reserved.
Fireplace, Farleys House, Muddles Green, East Sussex, England by Tony Tree
Lee Miller dehusking corn, Farleys Garden, East Sussex, England c.1960 by Roland Penrose [FF0981]
