Gelatin silver print
Black pants and business loafers. A glossy viscous substance. The imprint of a shoe. This photograph couples the unexpected and unsettling with the simple and familiar. Miller began her career in front of the camera, as a model, rather than behind it, but realized: “I would rather take the photograph than be one.” She soon began creating her own images, and sought out mentorship from Surrealist photographers in Paris in the 1920s, including Man Ray. Here, Miller’s focus on the textured tar heightens our attention to the strangeness that can punctuate everyday experiences—like the act of walking to work.
517: A Surreal Lens, 2025
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Lee Miller
American, 1907–1977 2 works onlineFrom fashion model to war photographer, Elizabeth “Lee” Miller thrived on both sides of the camera. Her career started with the kind of chance encounter that her Surrealist milieu adored: While studying in Manhattan, 19-year-old Miller stepped into the street without looking, putting herself within inches of an oncoming car.
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A Surreal Lens
Gallery 517In 1924, André Breton published his Manifesto of Surrealism, which, guided by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories, declared a radical break from the rationalism of modern society in favor of imagination, erotic desire, and unconscious thought.
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