Lee Miller (film) & War Photography

lindsay

lindsay

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Mrs P and I went to see the film Lee last night, about Lee Miller. It's not a complete biography, but an engaging film and interesting to see as a photographer. I think something that surprised me - I assume it is accurate - is that she used a Rolleiflex TLR as a war photographer, not the easiest tool I'd have thought, in terms of focusing and ease of handling. Also because of having to frequently change film (12 exposures a roll unless she was using 220). It set me thinking, afterwards, about other great war photographers, and whether we see/will see similar from current conflicts. I think I've seen some great video from Ukraine but I imagine there is a body of stills work being produced, I'm just not sure where to look for it. Ditto Gaza/Yemen/Sudan etc, even more difficult given that any Western photojournalist probbly wouldn't survive long in those environments.

I recommend the film though a a good watch, if anyone is wondering.
 
I was wondering whether it was any good. No cinema for me, but I'm hoping for an early streaming release.

I think with cameras being so prevalent, the amount of war photography is already being produced by those taking part. No technical skills required, so the need for a "photography expert" isn't there. I'm sure there are documentary photographers trying to tell a more complete story, but in todays instant gratification, I'm not sure there is a market for anything that doesn't take longer than 2 seconds to swipe through.
 
It’s on my ‘To watch list’ Lindsay (y)
 
That's what I was thinking of Ian, we don't have magazines like Life any more, although I know when I raised this topic a couple of years ago, there are some online equivalents albeit they are not generally known about.
 
lindsay said:
I think something that surprised me - I assume it is accurate - is that she used a Rolleiflex TLR as a war photographer, not the easiest tool I'd have thought, in terms of focusing and ease of handling.
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Miller's preference for Rolleiflex TLRs is well documented: https://www.leemiller.co.uk/faqs/

They were tough and reliable. Most importantly, they provided 12 frames on a roll, a great improvement over the bulky and much slower press camera with its, at best, 2 frames per dark slide. The big focussing screen probably appealed to Miller and she could switch to the surprisingly usable direct vision finder for press work. She also used a Zeiss Contax outfit for her war work but this seems to have been a secondary tool to her preferred TLR.
 
I enjoyed the film - I'd have liked the timeline to have started a little earlier just to explore Miller's relationship with Man Ray a bit

I imagine in the examples cited, Gaza/Yemen/Sudan.. On one hand a lot of the documentary photography might be done by people on the ground with the required access already and it's just case of curating the photographs and getting them out there.. but a lot of these pictures could be produced with propaganda in mind, especially when you look at some the viral images on social media.
 
I agree with all of that Ben. Indeed her time as a student/assistant with Man Ray was clearly formative.
Regarding current war photography, again true, complicated by the prevalence of social media for publishing images without editorial oversight. Or with it as you say, for propaganda purposes.
 
lindsay said:
It set me thinking, afterwards, about other great war photographers, and whether we see/will see similar from current conflicts. I think I've seen some great video from Ukraine but I imagine there is a body of stills work being produced, I'm just not sure where to look for it. Ditto Gaza/Yemen/Sudan etc, even more difficult given that any Western photojournalist probbly wouldn't survive long in those environments.
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Not sure if this is great war photography but it's from the Ukraine conflict. https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...p/18/ukraine-war-zone-byron-smith-in-pictures

I keep an eye on the Guardian site, and Reuters https://www.reuters.com/wider-image/ for current documentary/news type work.
 
Thanks Dave, that's a good link to some excellent work.
 
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