Newton

Helmut (1920-2004). German photographer, naturalized Australian. He has influenced fashion photography more than any once else in modern times. He was born in Berlin where, after his studies at the American School, he began his career as assistant to the fashion photographer Else Simon, better known as Eva. He turned his back on Nazi Germany, passing through Singapore, where he stayed for a year, then emigrating to Australia, whose citizenship he later obtained. He fought in the Australian army during World War II, after which he returned to photography and worked as a freelance for Vogue Australia. In 1958, he moved to London and then to Paris, beginning collaborations with Nova, Marie Claire, Elle, Queen and, from 1961, he helped to radically revise the image of Jardin des Modes. His unmistakable and aggressive style, with strong undertones of sensuality and sexuality, led him to collaborate during the 1960s with Playboy, Stern and Life, while his association with the American, Italian, English and French editions of Vogue became more established. He gained a pivotal role within Vogue France, alongside Guy Bourdin, during the 1970s. After 1971, a heart attack made him strongly reconsider his very frenetic work schedule and decide to pursue more selective choices. A highly sensitive creator, he always imposed his own vision with authentic determination: almost shy with regard to personal matters, he became a celebrity solely through his images, which were always produced with extraordinary technical skill, alternating a very precise and almost calligraphic color with an extremely refined black-and-white, which contained cultural echoes of Expressionism and the style favored by aggressive photo-reporters, to whom he sometimes declared his debt. His use of Polaroids, on the other hand, was consciously direct and slightly “dirty,” as if he had made the images for himself. He created advertising campaigns for the most famous brands across the world and each time not only transmitted his vision of a very decisive, autonomous, independent woman, but also his consciously voyeuristic style, sometimes containing eccentric fetishistic references, which were appreciated by many but violently opposed by others, who considered them chauvinistic. His approach provoked continuous debate with certain fringes of the feminist movement. But Helmut Newton, who lived in Montecarlo until 1981, always responded with innovative, succinct phrases (“The sexiest part of a woman’s body? Her ankle”), a good dose of auto-irony (“I am a salon communist”), and original initiatives such as Newton Illustrated, the large format magazines dedicated entirely to his photos, or the book Sumo, published in 1999: 480 pages, 50x70cm format, 30 kg weight at a price of $1500. His photographs are included in numerous publications (White Women, Helmut Newton Portraits, Pola-women, A World Without Men, Us and Them and the recent Yellow Pages, inspired by a murder trail that took place in Monaco, which Newton documented in 2002 as a correspondent for Paris Match) and displayed in exhibitions across the world. His professional collaborations with his wife June (also a photographer and known by the pseudonym Alice Springs, after the Australian town), were also important. He died in Los Angeles in a car accident in 1984.