Oh, Lee Miller! She was an absolutely fascinating figure—both as a surrealist muse and a groundbreaking photographer in her own right.
She started out as a model in the 1920s, working with Vogue and even being discovered by Condé Nast himself. But she soon transitioned behind the camera, becoming a student, assistant, and later partner to surrealist photographer Man Ray in Paris. She even played a key role in the discovery of solarization, a photographic technique that creates that dreamy, high-contrast effect.
During World War II, she reinvented herself yet again, becoming a war correspondent for Vogue. She was one of the few female photographers on the front lines, capturing everything from the London Blitz to the liberation of concentration camps like Dachau and Buchenwald. There’s even a famous photo of her sitting in Hitler’s bathtub in his Munich apartment, taken just after his death—a chilling and powerful statement.
Later in life, she stepped away from photography and focused on cooking, but her wartime experiences haunted her. It wasn’t until after her death that her work received the recognition it truly deserved.
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