Chevrolet Truck

I visited the Imperial War Museum in London today to see the exhibition of war photography by Lee Miller.

A great exhibition:  the photographs were excellent (beautiful quality mono prints), the story they told of the Second World War (and particularly the role played by women during the war) was powerful and moving, and the facts they revealed about Miller's extraordinary career I found very surprising.  Lee Miller started her career as a model, modelling fashions for Vogue magazine.  She became friends with several surrealist painters, becoming a muse and lover to Man Ray.  However, she  moved on to become a fashion photographer herself but transformed herself into a documentary photographer, becoming a war photographer as hostilities broke out.  She continued taking photographs of war torn countries and the people there for another couple of years after the end of the war, but returned to Britain exhausted, suffering bouts of depression, and virtually gave up photography.  Instead she became a gourmet "surrealist" cook.

This is the first time I have visited this museum since it's major building work and refurbishment earlier this year.  It is very impressive, and the displays have been significantly modernised and improved.  While wandering round, I found this old Chevrolet truck, which had been used by the Long Range Desert Group in Egypt, established in 1940 after Italy declared war against Britain.