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Peter Miller (photographer)

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Peter Miller (January 6, 1934 - April 17, 2023) was an American photographer, author, publisher and journalist.

Miller is best known for his photographs of rural Americans. During his long career Miller has taken photographs of Paris in the 1950s, the grape harvest in Margaux (France), Dachau, Rajasthan, the Atacama Desert, ski racing, and the World Trade Towers. In 1997 he published a selection of his Paris photographs, The First Time I Saw Paris.

Early life and education

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Miller was born on January 6, 1934, at Doctors Hospital in Manhattan. He spent his early life in New Jersey and Connecticut. After his parents divorced, his mother decided to move with him and his brother and sister to Weston, Vermont,where he soon found his love for hunting, fishing, and skiing. When he was in high school, several rifles were stolen from his home in Weston and with the $160 in insurance money his mother gave him he bought a twin-lens reflex camera.[1][2]

Miller spent much of his time afterward walking the fields around Weston where he met the local farmers. “I liked the farmers,” he said. “They were the first people I met.”[3] He was completely self-taught as a photographer as there was no one around who was interested in photography except one man in Manchester Village who had a studio where Miller often had his prints developed.

Miller received his B.A. in literature from the University of Toronto. While in Toronto, he became an apprentice for the photographer Yousuf Karsh. In 1954 Miller spent three months with Karsh in Europe photographing the leading intellectuals of the day, including Picasso, Albert Camus, Pablo Casals, and the future Pope John XXIII.[4]

Early career

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After graduating in 1955, Miller enlisted in the U.S. Army and became a Signal Corps photographer. He was assigned to Paris where he photographed French and American generals, public relations stories, and crime scenes. When he completed his tour of duty in 1958, Miller worked in New York City as a reporter for Life. As a reporter, he was not allowed to take photos while on assignment. However, the job gave him an opportunity to learn how to write and how a magazine was put together.[5]

Photographer, publisher and author

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An avid skier, in 1964 Miller returned to Vermont to start his own ski magazine Vermont Skiing where he was editor until 1968.[6] From 1969-1990, he was a contributing editor and photographer for Ski magazine, based in New York City. In 1981 he also worked as a freelance photographer and writer and became a stock photographer for the Image Bank, Iconica, and photo stock agencies in Europe and Asia.[7]

In 1990 Miller returned to Vermont and established Silver Print Press to publish his photographs of rural Vermonters, mortgaging his house to do so as he could not find a publisher.[3] Vermont People, People of the Great Plains, Vermont Farm Women, Vermont Gathering Places, A Lifetime of Vermont People, and Vanishing Vermonters were all published by Silver Print Press.

Miller also ghosted and provided photographs for Larry Benoit’s book How to Bag the Biggest Buck of Your Life, about tracking.[8] In 2008, he published Nothing Hardly Ever Happens in Colbyville, Vermont is an anthology of 27 stories written or edited by Miller about his hometown of Colbyville and nearby Stowe.[9]

Following publication of Vermont Farm Women, Miller set up the Vermont Farm Women’s Fund and donated part of the proceeds from the sale of his book to the fund.[10] In 2006 he was the first author and photographer to be named Vermonter of the Year by the Burlington Free Press and the Vermont state legislature. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy gave a speech on the Senate floor about Peter Miller’s work documenting over a half a century of rural Vermont.[11] His photographs have been exhibited in one-man shows in New York, Oklahoma, Paris, and Tokyo,[citation needed] and are on display in his gallery in Colbyville, Vermont, and on his virtual gallery titled Off the Wall on his website.

Miller died of pneumonia on April 17, 2023 at Copley Hospital in Morrisville.[12][13][14]

Miller's work is held in a trust run by his two friends; Rob Hunter, the former executive director of the Frog Hollow Vermont Craft Gallery and Ed French, an attorney based in Stowe.[15]

Publications

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  • The 30,000 Mile Ski Race (Dial Press, 1973)[16]
  • The Skier's Almanac (Nick Lyons Press and Doubleday, 1980)
  • The Photographer's Almanac (Little Brown, 1982)
  • Vermont People (Silver Print Press, 1990)[17]
  • People of the Great Plains (Silver Print Press, 1996)
  • The First Time I Saw Paris (Times Books/Random House, 1999). Published in France as Paris Perdu et Retrouvé, Photographies et souvenirs de la Ville Lumière (Paris, 2001)
  • Vermont Farm Women (Silver Print Press, 2002)[18]
  • Vermont People (Silver Print Press. Revised edition, 2003)[18]
  • Vermont Gathering Places (Silver Print Press, 2005)[18]
  • Nothing Hardly Ever Happens in Colbyville, Vermont: And Other Stories and Essays (Silver Print Press, 2008; OCLC 733981927.
  • A Lifetime of Vermont People (Silver Print Press, 2013)
  • Vanishing Vermonters: Loss of a Rural Culture (Silver Print Press, 2017)[19]

Awards

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  • Lifetime Achievement in Ski Journalism[20]
  • The Image Bank Award for Visual Excellence[citation needed]
  • IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for People of the Great Plains[citation needed]
  • IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Vermont Farm Women[citation needed]
  • Independent Publisher’s Award for Vermont Farm Women[citation needed]
  • Vermonter of the Year 2006 from the Vermont State Legislature[21]
  • New England Society in the City of New York Gold Award for A Lifetime of Vermont People[citation needed]
  • Paul Robbins Journalism Award for ski writing and photography from the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Moritz, Katie (April 26, 2018). "Photographer Peter Miller Offers Visual Vignettes into Rural Lives". The North Star Monthly.
  2. ^ "A Lifetime of Vermont People | Featured Photographer Peter Miller". 2 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Peter Miller is Still Here". Yankee Magazine. October 24, 2017.
  4. ^ "Peter Miller seeks to preserve 'vanishing Vermonters'". Vermont Digger. December 10, 2017.
  5. ^ Nemethy, Andrew (10 November 2013). "In This State: For photographer Peter Miller, a wonderful life in black and white, and a future colored with gray". VTDigger.
  6. ^ Reporter, The Valley (July 26, 2012). "The Valley Reporter - Peter Miller speaks at opening reception for 23rd annual Photography Show". www.valleyreporter.com.
  7. ^ "Author Peter Miller Talks On New Book "Vanishing Vermonters" In Rutland | Mountain Times". February 21, 2018.
  8. ^ Yardley, William (October 17, 2013). "Larry Benoit, 'Babe Ruth for Hunters,' Is Dead at 89" – via NYTimes.com.
  9. ^ https://www.ourherald.com/articles/miller-says-nothing-hardly-ever-happens-in-colbyville-vermont/
  10. ^ "Sponsors | Vermont Farm Women's Fund".
  11. ^ "Tribute to Peter Miller". US Congress.
  12. ^ "Peter Miller, whose photographs documented everyday Vermonters, dies at 89". Vermont Public. April 25, 2023.
  13. ^ Flanders, Colin. "Peter Miller, Iconic Vermont Photographer, Dies at 89". Seven Days.
  14. ^ O'Connor, Kevin (April 21, 2023). "Peter Miller, photographer of 'Vanishing Vermonters,' dies at 89". VTDigger.
  15. ^ "Remembering Peter Miller, Who Photographed Vermont's 'Simple People Living Simple Lives'". Seven Days.
  16. ^ "Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction". Kirkus Reviews.
  17. ^ https://vtdigger.org/2017/12/10/peter-miller-seeks-preserve-vanishing-vermonters/amp/
  18. ^ a b c "Waterbury's Peter Miller visits virtually with alma mater's photo club this weekend". Waterbury Roundabout.
  19. ^ Correspondent, Kevin O'Connor, Banner (December 22, 2017). "Vanishing Vermonters: A loss of a rural culture". Bennington Banner. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "ISHA Annual Awards Archive (1993-Present) | Skiing History". www.skiinghistory.org.
  21. ^ Chiang-Waren, Xian. "Photographer Peter Miller's 'A Lifetime of Vermont People' Wins Regional Book Award". Seven Days.
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