World Tour (1931-32) Revisited: Photos by Lee Miller, Paris, 1931

Model-turned-photographer Miller first met Charlie in New York in 1927 and the two are rumored to have been lovers.

Arguably the most famous image from this 1931 session is the shot of Charlie posing beneath a large Art Nouveau chandelier. Both of them enjoyed the session. Thinking about it years later, Miller laughed: “Charlie told me that he had never had such a good time in his life as he had with what he called my surréaliste photography."*

I have only ever seen three photos from this session but evidently a fourth photo was published in the French magazine Pour Vous in April 1932 (the bottom photo is on the cover). I have not yet been able to get my hands on a copy of this magazine.

Charlie participated in at least three professional photo sessions while he was in Paris during his world tour. I will post photos from one more tomorrow. Since he returned to Paris at least once later in the year, it's unlikely all of them were done during his week-long visit in March but it is difficult to find the exact dates of the sessions.






*Lee Miller: A Life by Carolyn Burke