Queen of Reinvention
A Queen of Reinvention – not unlike Madonna – Lee Miller went through a number of amazing transformations in her life. But when she became a war correspondent in 1942, she really found her calling. “I had thought and burned with ideas for years and suddenly found a peg on which to hang them,” she wrote. Tackling the job with her own unique mix of glamour and grit, Lee insisted on getting fitted for her dark-green uniform on Savile Row. How proud she was every time the French mistook her a ‘femme soldat’! With her camera around her neck and notebook in hand, Lee created very personal dispatches that always hit the spot, from thrilling combat reports to intimate accounts of the war’s effect on everyday life.
And she was fearless, becoming the only female journalist to see combat, ‘exposing herself to machine gun, mortar and artillery fire, as well as bombing’ according to a colleague. A French nurse who recognized Lee as ‘the Surrealists’ blonde Venus’ wrote: “Now this living statue was among us, extraordinarily beautiful, against a background of ruins, in her strict khaki uniform.” Lee’s return was triumphant, but something was missing. “I seem to have lost my grip or enthusiasm when the war ended,” she wrote in a letter to a friend. However hard she tried; she would never quite find it back. It was as if, by taking off her uniform, Lee had slipped out of the only role that really fit her like a glove.
MD Friends
Building bridges
From the Erasmus Bridge and the Mercedes-Benz Museum to Qatar’s metro network; Ben van Berkel’s iconic landmarks bring people together in rapturous beauty, again and again. I talked with the Dutch architect and educator about sensuality, ‘healthy’ buildings and the remarkable parallels between our designs.
MD Friends
More than a feeling
Don’t ignore your emotions; they are much more powerful than you can imagine. By linking the magical world of emotions with hard science, Dutch scientist Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology, shows us the consequences of our feelings and the power of our minds. The message: we can do much more than we think. “Meditate. It’s the single best thing you can do for your health.”
Marlies Says
Keto curious?
The fact that I feel bikini-confident all year round is, of course, a nice bonus. But for me, the biggest payoff of following the keto diet is the way it optimizes my health and gives me tons of energy.
Marlies Says
Super (skin) food
‘If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?’. I pretty much live by this beauty adage. After all, with your skin being one of your body’s largest organs, anything – and I mean anything! – you put onto your skin will end up in your bloodstream.