Lee Miller photography display at the Petrie Museum

A free display at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology shed light on the photography of surrealist artist Lee Miller, captured during her time living in Cairo.

In "Seeing and Unseeing the Pyramids: Lee Miller in Egypt", Miller’s photographs were displayed alongside objects from the archive of renowned archaeologist and Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, highlighting the different perspectives through which they each viewed Egypt in the 1930s. 

By contrasting Miller’s photographs with Petrie’s records, drawings and collected objects, "Seeing and Unseeing the Pyramids" prompted visitors to reflect on the way our own perspectives shape the "Egypt" that we see. 

The display told the story of how "Egypt" has been constructed and deconstructed in the human imagination, drawing on different perspectives over thousands of years. 

The display was part of a series of exhibitions celebrating the 75th anniversary of Farleys House and Gallery, home of the Lee Miller Archives.