Miller then served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy where he was assigned to Edward Steichen's World War II Naval Aviation Photographic Unit.

This project documented the wartime migration of African Americans northward, specifically looking at the black community on the south side of Chicago, covering all the emotions in daily life.

Miller taught at the Institute of Design in Chicago before commissioning a Modernist house for their growing family from architect Mario Corbett[3] in Orinda, California in 1953.

He was freelancing for Life and with his wife Joan [4] also worked with Edward Steichen as an associate curator for The Family of Man exhibition[5] and accompanying book[6] which opened at New York City's Museum of Modern Art in 1955.

Miller died on May 22, 2013, at his home in Orinda, California, age 94, survived by his wife of 70 years, the former Joan Baker (January 21, 1921 – March 7, 2014), and four children.