People I find interesting #1 - Lee Miller

lee miller by man ray

Lee Miller, 1907-1977, was a model, a muse, a photographer, a writer, and a one-of-a-kind original.

She was friends with influential 20th century artists such as Man Ray and Pablo Picasso.

She was one of the first journalists to enter Dachau, the Nazi concentration camp, after it was liberated by US forces in April 1945. 

Her war photography is confronting - obviously - but worth experiencing, as a reminder of what all citizens of the world are obligated to ensure never happens again.  

Like many of her generation, the horrors of World War 2 would haunt the rest of her life. 

I have a framed print of one of her photographs - 'Picnic' - that I occasionally look at and day dream of being a bohemian.

Picnic - Lee Miller - Mougins, Cote d'Azur, France 1937

'Picnic' is a pre-war picture taken in 1937. The way my daydreams experience the photograph are to feel it celebrating a relaxed, carefree freedom and gentle decadence, a certain type of sophisticated maturity, a way of accepting life and its unconventional creative possibilities.