The New Yorker: How a picture of a photojournalist bathing became a visual metaphor for the end of the war
Chris Wiley not only captures the iconic image of Miller in the tub, but also traces her enigmatic life: from her early days in front of the camera to her transformation into a war correspondent documenting the brutal realities of World War II
“Lee Miller in Hitler’s bathtub, Hitler’s apartment,” 1945.Photograph by Lee Miller with David E. Scherman © Lee Miller Archives
In a poignant blend of history and art, Chris Wiley's latest article for The New Yorker, "When Lee Miller Took a Bath in Hitler’s Tub," delves into a striking moment at the twilight of World War II. Captured in a photograph that has since become iconic, the image of Lee Miller, a photojournalist and former fashion model, bathing in Adolf Hitler’s Munich apartment just as the war was drawing to a close, serves as a powerful symbol of the war's end and the complexities of its aftermath.
This article not only explores the circumstances surrounding this famous photograph but also delves into Miller's extraordinary life journey—from her early days as a Vogue cover model to her transformation into a war correspondent capturing some of the most harrowing moments of the conflict.
Wiley navigates through Miller's personal and professional realms, revealing how her experiences at the war front, including her visit to Dachau on the same day she bathed in Hitler's tub, impacted her life and work. The narrative weaves through the interplay of art, war, and personal trauma, presenting a captivating look at a remarkable woman whose lens brought a haunting perspective to one of history's darkest times.
“On April 30, 1945, the photojournalist Lee Miller took a bath in Hitler’s tub. A correspondent for British Vogue, Miller had posted up in the Führer’s abandoned apartment in Munich along with a group of G.I.s from the 179th Regiment. That morning, she had been among the first to enter the newly liberated Dachau. At Hitler’s residence, before climbing into the tub, she set up her camera; her lover at the time, the Life photographer David Scherman, took a shot as she bathed. In time, the picture would become famous as a kind of apt visual metaphor for the end of the war. The same day, across Germany in a Berlin bunker, Hitler and his new wife, Eva Braun, took their own lives. In a letter to her Vogue editor, Miller described Dachau’s “great dusty spaces that had been trampled by so many thousands of condemned feet—feet which ached and shuffled and stamped away the cold and shifted to relieve the pain and finally became useless except to walk them to the death chamber.” In Scherman’s photograph, some of that same dust has tracked from Miller’s boots onto Hitler’s white bathmat.” Read more
Chris Wiley is an artist and a contributing editor at Frieze magazine. He writes regularly for Photo Booth.
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