Lee Miller and Roland Penrose: Love Letters Bound in Gold Handcuffs

'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 9. Sister of All the Serpents

In this episode Lee Miller writes to Roland about becoming the Sister of all serpents in the Egyptian desert whilst Roland Penrose attends the opening of the Surrealist Objects and Poem exhibition in Paris.

'I have a perfect passion for snakes anyway, tho I’ve also been at the same time terrified of being bitten - as you’ll remember every time I had to get out to pee in the midi, they are wonderful to touch, and clean like jewels, sparking and tender to touch. The vipers have wonderful eyes, but wiggle a lot and won’t get obedient, but the cobras are gentle and come when you call them and put their head right in your hand. Guy took a lot of pictures which I’ve ordered for you too . . . ' Lee Miller 7th January 1938

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

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'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 8. Suez Canal:

In this episode Lee Miller in Egypt and Roland Penrose in England celebrate Christmas and the new year in very different ways...

'I’m happy again beyond words at finding two letters from you on my table this afternoon when I got back from Cornwall, one which you wrote on Xmas night has come with such speed that it almost made up for the endless weeks that I have waited and again what marvellous letters! I have read them through twice already chuckling over your adventures and greatly moved by your descriptions particularly of the Sinai fishing trip.' Roland Penrose, 29th December 1937

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

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'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.

In this episode the Surrealist Objects and Poems exhibition which included the works Lee Miller and Roland had been collaborating on opens. Lee in Egypt is feeling isolated from the art world.

'It’s nice that you think of and save me from isolation from that particular world - - - so far my contacts with people in Egypt are most unproductive, the only person who knows or cares about any of the pictures and people in which I am concerned and interested in is Robin Fedden --- other than Aziz, who just doesn’t care, and the customs examiner who knows them all by heart' wrote Lee Miller, Cairo, Egypt 23rd November 1937

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

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'When you look at your parents or grandparents it's hard to imagine them as young lovers full of adventure' Ami Bouhassane reads and shares love letters from her grandmother, held in the Lee Miller's Archives.

In this episode Lee and Roland collaborate further on Lee's Surrealist object for the International Surrealist Objects and Poems exhibition and Lee is back travelling in Egypt, visiting Wadi Natrum.

'I must tell you about your object – to begin with there are no wax hands of the right type in London. I found that after visiting a dozen or more shops, so I bought a wood one which has a really good shape and I painted it with the greatest care inspired by your hands which I can still see with some accuracy, but that was only half the job. The second hunt was for the teeth – finally after several false trails I found two old men, in white coats sitting in an attic making the most rosy pearly false jaws I’ve ever seen....' Roland Penrose, Hampstead – Sunday 21st November 1937

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

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'When you look at your parents or grandparents it's hard to imagine them as young lovers full of adventure' Ami Bouhassane shares the love letters from her grandmother, held in the Lee Miller's Archives, conjuring up an extraordinary tale and extra depths to the famous photographer, Lee Miller.

In this episode Roland tells Lee about what he hears is happening in Spain and Lee asks Roland to make a Surrealist Object for her to exhibit in the Surrealist Objects exhibition in London.

‘You ask about Spain – the agony of those wretched people increases daily. It is not only your military and diplomatic friends that are so blind and cowardly, the government does nothing effective either to stop the Italian intervention or rescue of the refugees from northern Spain where they are being massacred according to the most authentic accounts – men, women, children, priests and anyone who disagrees with Franco.’ Wrote Roland 1st November 1937

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

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Darling my love, 

It’s three weeks today since that worst of all partings – three weeks less until I shall see you again. Your letter arrived this morning making me very happy and very miserable – miserable, because it is so little a letter when one wants you and because you don’t seem to be happy either – all that makes it more and more intolerable and absurd.' writes Roland on the 25th October 1937

In this episode Roland speaks of the artists and work he is doing in London and they both discuss some of the political situation at the time.

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

Producer: Tolly Robinson

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Love Letters Bound in Gold Handcuffs Lee Miller takes a trip to the desert Oasis of Siwa, a journey that inspired some of her most famous Surrealist images.

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

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Darling my love, I think of you all the time – day after day getting further from me back into your Egyptian world. Man’s photo of your lips disappearing into the Mediterranean is horribly symbolic but I haven’t even got your legs to console me – just paper objects and memories which I look over time and again thinking of the incredible happiness I have had and which I hope to have again.' wrote Roland from Hampstead, London to Lee Miller, on the 9th October 1937.

The two lovers had spent a wonderful summer together and now find themselves going back to their old lives.

Roland is not getting letters from Lee and wonders if she has already forgotten him.

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

Producer: Tolly Robinson

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'When you look at your parents or grandparents it's hard to imagine them as young lovers full of adventure' Ami Bouhassane reads and shares love letters from her grandmother Lee Miller, held in the Lee Miller's Archives.

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

Producer: Tolly Robinson

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'When you look at your parents or grandparents it's hard to imagine them as young lovers full of adventure' Ami Bouhassane reads and shares love letters from her grandmother, held in the Lee Miller's Archives.

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

Producer: Tolly Robinson

All content © Lee Miller Archives, England 2023. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.