Storrington CC were very privileged indeed to have a talk this evening by Tony Penrose, the Son of Lee Miller. Tim Hulbert our former Programme Secretary left us with two pretty tricky set subjects this season, but to have arranged this speaker was very creditable as he was probably the best speaker the club has had in many years. One member said it was the best presentation he had ever attended.
I along with most other people I suspect had never heard of Lee Miller; but after tonight we will never forget her. She had a most extraordinary life which was affected right from the start when at the age of nine she was raped and left with Gonorrhea. She then went on to become a 'Super Model' both in the USA and Paris. This was followed by a very distinguished career as a reportage photographer during WW2 during which she witnessed horrific events which left her again scared for the rest of her life, leading to her becoming an alcoholic and recluse.
Her Father was a photographer so she grew up knowing all about basic wet darkroom work and she was extensively photographed by her Dad who always remained her very best friend until he died. As she was so beautiful and photogenic she was soon to become a very well known fashion model. In the 30's she appeared regularly in Vogue and all the top fashion magazines. She became very close to Man Ray the very famous photographer of his day. She became very involved with the Bohemian set at that time when all the men and women involved slept with each other as a routine although each thought that the others should not be doing it! Eventually though she was swept off to Eygpt by a very wealthy man where she started doing some photography and we saw a picture taken by her from the top of one of the Pyramids casting its great shadow over Cairo.
Tony accompanied his entire talk with PIs of pictures of his Mother and those taken by her which he discovered after her death in 1977. He had had a very strange relationship with her as she was not maternal and by the time he was growing up she had become victim of alcohol abuse and his nanny was really his Mum.
She had carried on with her reportage photography and when WW2 started she took pictures of London in the Blitz.
She then decided to join the US army as a reporter for them and landed in France soon after D-Day taking pictures and reporting on the war as it progressed through France into Germany. She was in personal danger quite often but obtained some very extraordinary images. She had her first bath for weeks in Hitlers quarters and was present when the Allies attacked his Alpine refuge.
The most moving and shocking images of all were taken when she was first into one of the Concentration camps and took pictures of the human corpses which they found together with some of the few survivors.
This experience quite obviously affected her tremendously and when the war was over and she returned to England she gradually fell victim of alcohol abuse becoming quite excentric.
She had many famous visitors from her past including Man Ray and Picasso who had painted her in the 30's 6 times.
After her death, Tony's late wife sorted through all the negatives that they had found in the loft of the family farmhouse where Lee lived. They realised that they had struck Gold and spent a lot of time sorting them and printing contact sheets and protecting them for the future. Later Tony's eldest daughter got involved and now the whole family run the archive of Lee millers amazing work. The website is www.leemiller.co.uk and is very interesting.
The evening can be summed up by one word, 'WOW'. Our thanks go to Tony Penrose for this amazing evening.