Lee Miller: A Romanian Rhapsody | Photo exhibition at RCC

Romanian Cultural Centre has the pleasure to present the photo exhibition Lee Miller: A Romanian Rhapsody by one of the most remarkable female icons of the 20th century. Curated by Adrian Silvan-Ionescu, the exhibition explores hidden corners of rural Romania before and right after WW2, at a time of significant social and political change.

A Surrealist photographer, Lee Miller (1907-1977) is often best remembered for her fashion work and as a WW2 combat photographer freelancing for Vogue magazine. In the summer of 1938 together with the artist Roland Penrose she travelled through Romania by road in Miller’s large American Packard car. Their journey began in Athens, and led toBucharestwhere they met the noted musician and anthropologist Hari Brauner and his partner Lena Constante, a puppeteer and stage designer. Their route led to Târgu Jiu, Brebu, Tismana,Sibiu,Brasov, Bran, Baia Mare, and back to Bucharest.

Driven by her surrealist passion, Lee Miller was fascinated by the wonderful rituals of Romania capturing through her lenses customs such as Calușarii, Paparuda or Caloian. The exhibition includes rarely seen and un-shown photographs of 1930s Romania, a record of the last moments of an innocent world.

After ’46 Lee Miller went back, determined to find out if her friends had survived the war. Her images subtly reflect the turbulence of the post-war years and capture the nation poised for major political and social change. Her writing is veiled as she records evidence of the destruction of peasant life during the Nazi occupation.

Beautifully illustrated, Lee Miller’s images reflect the scars of irreparable damage, a world of hardship and unremitting toil, but also of great beauty and uniquely strong cultural values to be found today woven into the fabric of Romania.