Exhibition Review: Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton, Thierry Mugler Fashion, US Vogue, Monte Carlo 1995, © Helmut Newton Estate, courtesy Helmut Newton Foundation
By Nicholas Rutolo
Fashion photography’s, and effectively, fashion’s history has changed dramatically since it’s conception; what was once posh and conservative has transformed into an exploration and definition of expression, exploring the boundaries of creativity and vulnerability. Helmut Newton’s experiments pushing against normality, his opposition to the portrayal of women’s place in society before and support during the women’s liberation movement, and his venture into voyeurism through photography all gave him fame and recognition as a giant and a controversial figure from the twentieth century. Helmut Newton was born in 1920, to a jewish family in Germany. From an early age he discovered a passion for photography, working with a camera at an internship for 2 years at the age of 16 with Else Ernestine Neuländer-Simon, known professionally as Yva. In 1938, he and his family weren’t able to avoid the political conflict of World War 2 anymore and were forced to leave Germany; he had spent a short amount of time at an interment camp. After his forced emigration to South America, he moved to Singapore, where he worked as a local photographer, a job that was extremely short lived. In 1940, he was sent by the British out of China, and into a “camp” in Australia, in which he lived in for 2 years. After his release he was enlisted into the Australian Army, and after World War 2, in 1946, he returned to photography by creating a studio and focusing on fashion, the job he would hold for the rest of his life.
Helmut Newton, Woman examining Man, Calvin Klein, US Vogue, St. Tropez 1975 © Helmut Newton Estate, courtesy Helmut Newton Foundation
Extremely recognizable and sometimes dangerously controversial, Newton cultivates his vision through black and white images of highly fashionable and nude women, the embodiment of glamour and opulence, and with elements of voyeurism, this became his signature in settings and frames that intentionally tell independent stories. We’re meant to ask what happened before and what happens after a scene, a scene that Newton took extreme care in constructing the details for. His work subjected an audience to sadomasochistic erotic voyeurism; his models were captured through full or partial nudity, during a period in which feminism and the move towards women’s empowerment became a mainstream normality. He created a thread of voyeurism with the his scenes and with his audience; he included men in his photographs observing the scene or he placed his models in highly visible locations, but by creating scenes of private scenario not typically meant for a third party to witness, the audience acts voyeuristic too.
He gained fame and notoriety when he developed his revolutionary style in the mid 1950s as he began working for Australian, British, and eventually French Vogue. He received a full time position with French Vogue, and during his time there he was able to develop his style which he described as intentionally against good taste. He most often worked with women, through collaborations with Vogue and Playboy, he captured celebrities and politicians, although he didn’t photograph all of them nude; he tried to capture the essence of a person, and when photographing a person like Margret Thatcher, Andy Warhol, or David Bowie, he could easily show their strength and power in a clothed portrait. Photographing the vulnerability of notable figures brings them closer, in perception, to average people while showing their honest nature helps them to stand out independent of their reputation. By doing this, his audience identifies that as glorified and as idolized as these people are, they’re human; they have faults, flaws, strength, humanity and everything else that makes them just as regular and powerful as the rest of us.
Helmut Newton, Courrèges, Queen Magazine, Paris 1964 © Helmut Newton Estate, courtesy Helmut Newton Foundation
His work created a shift in fashion; Vogue is a giant amongst fashion connoisseurs but before Newton’s introduction, Vogue never platformed nudity, for it was in bad taste. Newton revolutionized the fashion magazine’s perspective, and subsequently created a movement that popularized pushing the boundary of what is acceptable for fashion and a lifestyle. Before Newton’s influence, fashion photography was conservative and objectively safe, but Newton added passion, desire, an air of scandal and a willingness for controversy. He enabled fashion and the public opinion of vulnerable expression to be able to be where it is today. His work aimed to switch gender roles, giving women the agency in any given situation, and having women being dominant. A couple of messages were communicated clearly; power dynamics needed either a shift or the presumptive gender dynamics needed to be abolished, the power women exude is equally powerful with and without clothing, and that art posses an intersectionality between expression and societal revolution.
Helmut Newton died in 2004, in California, after his car spun out of control and he sustained fatal injuries. The legacy he left behind had rippling effects; he created imitators while revolutionizing the landscape of fashion and photography, and his work and impact will undoubtedly permeate in mainstream’s and pop culture’s foreseeable future.
"HELMUT NEWTON. LEGACY" will be on view from 31 October 2021 to 22 May 2022 at the Helmut Newton Foundation, Jebensstraße 2, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
