'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 17 – Marco Polo

In this episode Roland and Lee's adventures in Egypt together end and again they become separated by oceans... but is their future together more certain?

'I have no news only the old guess what? To which you know the answer. I miss you more that ever, the Siwa trip was the final proof to me that I love you insatiably – every moment was superb and every moment since I left you on the quay intolerable.' wrote Roland Penrose aboard the Marco Polo to Lee Miller, Cairo 19th March 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 support the Lee Miller Archives and Farleys and 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

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