Talk on Lee Miller: Friday, 18 February 2014

Lee Miller was the “It Girl” of 1927, a model who embodied elegance, refinement, and flapper chic. She became unemployable thanks to a scandal involving a Kotex ad, and then her life was transformed. She moved to Paris, apprenticed herself to artist Man Ray and steadily became one of the most important photographers of her generation. Her brilliant photos helped revolutionize the fashion industry, but she also photographed war, poverty, and politics. (One of her most bizarre and iconic photos is of herself in Hitler’s bathtub).

Lee Miller’s colorful life will be the topic of a lecture presented by Yale historian Becky Conekin on Friday, April 18 from 12–1 pm at Webster University in SVER 123. Conekin has written a book about Miller that she will discuss during her talk, which is titled: “Lee Miller in Fashion.”

According to The New York Times, Conekin’s book “expands our view of that protean spirit, an American model who became a European Surrealist, a fearless photojournalist, and other things besides.” The Huffington Post calls it, “a lush page-turner that offers a very intimate look at a visionary and risk-taker who lived her life to the fullest.”

The event is sponsored by the Department of History, Politics, and International Relations; the English Department, the College of Arts and Sciences; and the Department of Art, Design, and Art History, Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts, Webster University. Subterranean Books will sponsor a book signing following the talk.

The lecture is open to the public.