New collection

EXPOSURE – Snapshots from the life of Lee Miller

 Exposure focuses on the extraordinary life of the American photographer Lee Miller, model, muse, photographer and WW2 war correspondent. These poems do not form a comprehensive biography, but rather form an album of snapshots taken from events in Lee Miller’s life, her photographs and the artworks she inspired. Some poems are written in the voice of the poet, some in Lee’s voice and others in the voice of the men who constantly surrounded her.


‘Through his long quiet observation Derek Adams’ poetry gives us both the nuance and the power of Lee Miller’s personality. His insightful lines connect her talent as a surrealist artist and her achievements as war correspondent to the vulnerable person within who secretly bore the scars of child abuse and wartime traumas. I regard this book as a perceptive and touching portrait of my mother.’
Antony Penrose


‘More than the sum of its parts, Derek Adams’ engaging sequence of fast-moving, sharply focused poems offers vivid and memorable insights into Lee Miller and her extraordinary life and times.’
Michael Laskey

‘These are vivid and compassionate poems which make an imaginative leap right into Lee Miller's extraordinary life, and take the reader with them.’
​Jean Sprackland

Exposure reviewed in London Grip read review here