Fact & Fiction | Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton. Self Portrait. Courtesy of the Helmut Newton Foundation and the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation. © Profirst Justin Paquay
Written by Makenna Karas
Art is inherently seductive. It extends an offer of longevity that our mortal flesh will never be able to provide, combatting the existential dread of erasure that comes for us all. If we’re lucky, we won’t die when we take our last breath. Helmut Newton catalyzed such luck for himself with his remarkable career of notoriously provocative and controversial photos that paved the way for new avenues of contemporary photography to be explored. The Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation is honoring his iconic career with “Fact & Fiction”, an exhibition that will run through May 1st, 2024, in A Coruña, Spain.
Helmut Newton. Courtesy of the Helmut Newton Foundation and the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation. © Profirst Mathieu Ridelle
Devoted to showcasing the life and work of Newton, the exhibit would not be complete without his famous series, “Big Nudes”, a collection of life-sized portraits of naked women. While the series has been a constant point of controversy, with many arguing that it perpetuates the objectification of the female body, indulging the male gaze at the expense of women, it has also been regarded as a collection that publicizes female empowerment. Shot in the 80s, the women can be viewed as icons of the newly sexually liberated woman, each posing in a way that exudes confidence and power, not submission. The models are upright, standing with pubic hair and natural curves on full display in a showcase of raw femininity that directly subverts the girlish, mysterious innocence often portrayed in female nudes.
Helmut Newton. Courtesy of the Helmut Newton Foundation and the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation. © Profirst Justin Paquay
Continuing to pave his own way, female nudity runs as a common theme throughout the entire exhibit, spotlighting shots of women flashing a breast to the camera or flexing their biceps, topless. Not always naked, there are also a plethora of shots that freeze women in motion, walking down the street with purpose, dripping in elegance and asserting power. They all coalesce to serve as radical illuminations of the strength and autonomy that the twentieth century was reluctant to allow women the space to inhabit. The women of his shots conjure up masculine auras, daring the viewer to perceive the portrayal of nude female bodies as invitations for feminist revolution, not patriarchal objectification.
Helmut Newton. Courtesy of the Helmut Newton Foundation and the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation. © Profirst Mathieu Ridelle
The collection, in paying homage to Newton’s life, also contains elements of visual biography. In a self portrait, Newton himself is the object of focus. Splayed out on the couch with a magazine in one hand and a telephone on the table in front of him, the image offers a glimpse into the life of the man behind the aforementioned racy shots. With bare feet and an unbuttoned shirt, Newton slouches down the seat in a posture of relaxed confidence suggestive of his, by then, successful career. It’s beautifully invasive, interrogating a moment of Newton’s life in a manner that mirrors the voyeuristic nature of his photography.
Helmut Newton. Courtesy of the Helmut Newton Foundation and the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation. © Profirst Justin Paquay
It is that voyeurism which unites this collection. There is a constant, looming sensation of witnessing something that you are not supposed to see, that not only captures the essence of Newton’s career, but invites the viewer to lean in and look closer at the things society ushers us away from. It is, in a word, seductive.
