Lee Miller’s secret lives made it hard for her to be my mum
Antony Penrose knew his mother Lee Miller was a famous photographer, but she never talked about her experiences in World War Two. He didn’t find out why until after she died.
Growing up Antony Penrose didn’t get on with his mother, Lee Miller. He saw her as a cruel alcoholic during much of his childhood. It wasn’t until she died that he discovered how extraordinary she was; she’d been a fashion model in the 1920s, a groundbreaking surrealist artist in the 1930s, and a war photographer in World War Two.
She witnessed first-hand the battle for liberation in Europe and the discovery of concentration camps. Antony knew nothing of this painful experience while she was alive. Realising what she had been through helped him understand his own relationship with his mother.
This episode contains references to childhood sexual abuse.
Lee Miller, an exhibition of over 250 of Lee Miller's photographs is at Tate Britain in London until February 2026.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Julian Siddle
Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Lee Miller, Self-portrait New York studio. Photo is a black and white image side profile of Lee Miller in crushed velvet dress looking over the back of an armchair. Credit: Lee Miller Archives, England)
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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected
