The radical eye and many lives of photographer Lee Miller at the Musée d'art moderne de Paris

'Model Elizabeth Cowell wearing Digby Morto suit, London 1941,' by Lee Miller. LEE MILLER ARCHIVES ENGLAND 2026

An astonishing life, or rather, many of them, as Lee Miller never stopped reinventing herself: muse and model, fashion photographer and war reporter. Behind the lens, she was simply remarkable. The Musée d'art moderne de Paris brilliantly demonstrates this with a retrospective covering the American nomad's entire career, from the 1920s to the 1950s. "We wanted to present her as one of the great photographers of the twentieth century," said Fanny Schulmann, the exhibition's curator. "Beyond her incredible fate, it was essential to return to the works themselves. That's why we focused on vintage prints."

Of the 248 photographs on display, 175 are vintage prints of striking beauty. "That was important, as she printed much of her own work; to her, the print was a genuine aesthetic challenge." Yet, Miller first appears as an actress, at the very start of the exhibition, filmed by Jean Cocteau in Le Sang d'un poète ("The Blood of a Poet") in 1930. "This film was almost prophetic," the curator explained. "Lee Miller appears in multiple guises: animated statue, card player, femme fatale causing death – echoing all her incarnations," added Schulmann.