Lee Miller: A Woman at War
Research, curatorial contribution and exhibition tours
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock, 2025–26
Alongside her artistic practice, Ania Ready works collaboratively with museums and cultural organisations on research, exhibitions and public engagement. Her interests centre on photography, overlooked histories and women’s experiences.
In 2025–26, Ready worked with the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum on Lee Miller: A Woman at War, an exhibition exploring Miller’s work as a photographer and war correspondent during the Second World War.
About the Research
Ready researched Miller’s wartime photography and contributed to the selection of works and development of the exhibition narrative. Her research followed Miller’s journey through Europe, from the liberation of Paris to Buchenwald and Dachau, while also considering how her earlier involvement with Surrealism continued to shape the way she photographed war.
Particular attention was given to Miller’s position as one of a small number of women war correspondents working close to active combat, the restrictions she encountered, and the decisions she made as a photographer. The research considered not only what Miller witnessed, but how she photographed it: her use of framing and perspective, and the often unexpected coexistence of beauty, absurdity and horror within her wartime images.
Curatorial Contribution
Ready also contributed ideas for the presentation of photographs. Her suggestion to conclude the exhibition with a portrait of an exhausted Miller, taken by her husband Roland Penrose after her return from the war, was incorporated into the final installation. Rather than being hung conventionally on the wall, the photograph was placed on a chair, bringing the exhibition back to the woman behind the camera and the personal impact of what she had witnessed.
Public Engagement
Following the exhibition's opening, Ready developed and led tours exploring the stories and circumstances behind individual photographs. These examined Miller's experiences as a woman working in war zones, her willingness to cross the boundaries imposed on female correspondents, and the influence of Surrealism on the way she photographed conflict, destruction and survival. To mark the range of Miller's talents beyond photography, Ready also baked cakes from Miller's own recipes to serve at the tours - a nod to her training at Le Cordon Bleu, and to the way cooking and entertaining became, for Miller, a way of finding her way back to ordinary life after the war.
Exhibition
Lee Miller: A Woman at War
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock
13 May – 12 September 2026
Research and curatorial contribution: Ania Ready
Exhibition curation and installation: Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum
Lee Miller photographs © Lee Miller Archives
Photography Credits
Portrait of Ania Ready: David Stumpp
Lee Miller photographs © courtesy of Lee Miller Archives
Additional installation photography: Ania Ready
