'When you look at your parents or grandparents it's hard to imagine them as young lovers full of adventure'

Conjuring up an extraordinary tale and extra depths to the famous photographer, Lee Miller, Ami Bouhassane shares her grandmothers love letters, held in the Lee Miller's Archives.

Episode 15 - It seems Mad that we should not be together

In this episode Lee is still travelling whilst Roland is now back in London touring Picasso's Guernica painting around the UK.

'I took some quite startling pictures in Syria - - - -Palmyra, Balbeck - - - Djerash - - - Krack - - -Sergiopolis - - - the Euphrates and the Tigris - - - to say nothing of Homs, Hama, Alep, Damascus - - - Antioch and all the great empty spaces - - - but as usual I’m too indolent to do anything about them . . . . and they are stuck away, un-filed like my Romanian and Greek pictures. Altho I bought an enlarger, I don’t think that I’ll ever get around to using it.' Lee Miller wrote to Roland Penrose in London, 6th January 1939

This series explores the 300 pages of love letters written between the iconic photographer Lee Miller and the Surrealist artist Roland Penrose during their courtship. Starting just a few days after they first met in June 1937 at a fancy dress party in Paris, the letters continue for 2 years charting their love, their friends such as Man Ray, Picasso, Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst, Nusch and Paul Eluard, their adventures, the build up of world war II, some scandals and a lot of fun.

Subscribe to listen to other podcast series featuring Lee Miller’s writing: www.patreon.com/leemillerarchives

Guest Speakers: Antony Penrose (son of Lee Miller and Roland Penrose and Co-Director of Lee Miller Archives), Hilary Roberts (Independent Curator, formerly senior curator of photography at Imperial War Museums, London), Hussein Omar (lecturer on Modern global history, University college Dublin) and Sam Bardaouil (Founder & curator of ArtReorientated).

Lee Miller's letters read and presented by Ami Bouhassane

Roland Penrose's letters read by Adam Grayson

Music composed by David Cullen

Series Producer: Tolly Robinson

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2024. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

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