Wayne Miller archive

Wayne Forest Miller was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 19, 1918. Miller attended the University of Illinois between 1936 and 1940 and earned a B.S. in Business Administration. From 1940-1941 Miller attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles, but decided it was not for him and joined the Navy. Shortly after, in 1942, he married Joan Baker, and they had four children together.

From 1942 to 1946, under the leadership of Edward Steichen, Miller worked as a combat photographer for the U.S. Navy, where he captured soldiers in battle in a variety of countries, including the Philippines, Japan, and France. Miller was one of the first Americans to photograph Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945.

Between 1946 and 1948, Miller held two concurrent Fellowships with the Guggenheim: “To Photograph the Way of Life of the Northern Negro.” In this role, he captured images of Chicago’s South Side during the wake of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South. In 2000, Miller published a book, “Chicago’s South Side: 1946-1948,” that featured images from the three-year project. Also, during this time, Miller taught photography at the Institute of Design in Chicago (1947-1948) and worked as a freelance magazine photographer in Chicago until 1949. Shortly after, he became a contract photographer for LIFE Magazine until 1953.

Between 1953 and 1955, Miller worked on the “Family of Man” Exhibition as an assistant to Edward Steichen at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This show featured more than 500 photographs taken by more than 250 photographers in 68 countries. The exhibition included a series of images taken by Miller that portray his wife in labor and nursing their son, David.

Beginning in 1958, Miller became involved with Magnum Photos, Inc., starting as an elected member and later served as President from 1962-1966. Miller also published, “The World is Young” in 1958, which depicted the lives of his four children growing up in California.

In 1967, Miller became involved with the National Park Service as a Special Assistant to the Director of Environmental Affairs. Miller quit professional photography in the 1970s and became an activist for forest preservation, particularly the redwood forests in Northern California. Miller died on May 22, 2013 at his home in Orinda, California at the age of 94.