Lee Miller Photography Exhibition at the Polygon Gallery
Lee Miller: A Photographer at Work (1932–1945) at the Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver features a blockbuster survey of Miller’s most pivotal and productive period: from her time as a highly sought-after studio portraitist to a commercial fashion photographer, after which she served a critical role as the World War II correspondent for the British edition of Vogue.
More than 100 images reveal the behind-the-scenes dynamics of an artist managing a photography career amid the barriers facing professional women at the time, offering a richly layered, complex portrait of this celebrated photojournalist.
American photographer Lee Miller led an extraordinary and pioneering career, but her reputation has often been reduced to just being in association with Surrealist artist Man Ray. This exhibition aims to shift the narrative. In 1939, Miller began working for British Vogue, where her reportage was critical in transforming Vogue from being solely a fashion magazine to one that carried gravitas in its journalism.
Her portraits of street fashion and women on the front lines was critical in the magazine’s aim to transmit government wartime messaging to British women: encouraging women to “carry on” and take up additional duties during WWII. She became the first female photojournalist on the front lines as the magazine’s wartime correspondent, and even joined the 83rd Infantry Division of the US Army on the Allied advance from Normandy to Paris. Furthermore, her documentation of the liberation of the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps was some of the first photographic evidence of the Holocaust, bringing its horrific realities into public consciousness.
Following the war, Miller continued contributing to Vogue, capturing portraits of renowned artists Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró, amongst others. Her family later relocated to Farleys, England, where she became an award-winning cook for her Surrealism-inspired dishes, and where her archives are housed today.
Lee Miller: A Photographer at Work (1932–1945)
- Dates: November 7, 2025 to February 1, 2026
- Gallery Hours: Wednesdays 10:00am to 5:00pm; Thursdays 10:00am to 9:00pm. Fridays to Sundays 10:00am to 5:00pm
- Opening Celebration on November 6th at 7:00pm with Elliott Ramsey and Ami Bouhassane, granddaughter of Lee Miller and co-director of the Lee Miller Archives
- Location: The Polygon Gallery (101 Carrie Cates Court, North Vancouver)
- Admission: By donation, courtesy of BMO
Curated by Gaëlle Morel, The Polygon presentation will mark the West Coast premiere of this stunning tribute to the indomitable Lee Miller, previously shown at the Image Centre (Toronto) and Les Recontres d’Arles (France).
