Helmut Newton
Encyclopedia
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter (October 31, 1920 – January 23, 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."
-Realgymnasium and the American School in Berlin. Interested in photography
from the age of 12 when he purchased his first camera, he worked for the German photographer Yva (Elsie Neulander Simon) from 1936. The increasingly oppressive restrictions placed on Jews by the Nuremberg laws meant that his father lost control of the factory in which he manufactured buttons and buckles; he was briefly interned in a concentration camp on 'Kristallnacht
,' November 9, 1938, which finally compelled the family to leave Germany. Newton's parents fled to South America. He was issued with a passport just after turning 18, and left Germany on December 5, 1938. At Trieste
he boarded the 'Conte Rosso' (along with about 200 others escaping the Nazis) intending to journey to China
. After arriving in Singapore
he found he was able to remain there, first and briefly as a photographer for the Straits Times and then as a portrait photographer.
on September 27, 1940. Internees travelled to the camp of Tatura
, Victoria
by train under armed guard. He was released from internment in 1942, and briefly worked as a fruit picker in northern Victoria. In April 1942, he enlisted with the Australian Army and worked as a truck driver. After the war in 1945, he became an Australian citizen and changed his name to Newton in 1946. In 1948, he married actress June Browne
, who performed under the stage name June Brunell. She later became a successful photographer under the ironic pseudonym Alice Springs (after Alice Springs, the central Australian town).
In 1946, Newton set up a studio in fashionable Flinders Lane and worked on fashion
and theater photography in the affluent post-war years. He shared his first joint exhibition in May 1953 with Wolfgang Sievers
, a German refugee like himself who had also served in the same company. The exhibition of 'New Visions in Photography' was displayed at the Federal Hotel in Collins Street
and was probably the first glimpse of 'New Objectivity
' photography in Australia. Newton went into partnership with Henry Talbot
, a fellow German Jew who had also been interned at Tatura, and his association with the studio continued even after 1957, when he left Australia for London. The studio was renamed 'Helmut Newton and Henry Talbot'.
in 1961 and continued work as a fashion photographer. His works appeared in magazines including, most significantly, French Vogue and Harper's Bazaar
. He established a particular style marked by erotic, stylized scenes, often with sado-masochistic
and fetishistic
subtexts. A heart attack in 1970 slowed Newton's output, but his notoriety continued to increase, most notably with his 1980 "Big Nudes" series, which marked the pinnacle of his erotic-urban style, underpinned with excellent technical skills. Newton also worked in portraiture and more fantastical studies.
Newton shot a number of pictorials for Playboy
, including pictorials of Nastassia Kinski and Kristine DeBell
. Original prints of the photographs from his August 1976 pictorial of DeBell, "200 Motels, or How I Spent My Summer Vacation" were sold at auctions of Playboy archives by Bonhams
in 2002 for $21,075, and by Christies in December 2003 for $26,290.
, establishing the Helmut Newton Foundation. The foundation's mission is the conservation, protection and presentation of the oeuvre of Helmut Newton and Alice Springs.
. All three had been photography students at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California
in 1979 when they became Newton's longtime assistants, and all three went on to independent careers. The exhibit premiered at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin and combined the work of all three with personal snapshots, contact sheets, and letters from their time with Helmut.
In his later life, Newton lived in both Monte Carlo
and Los Angeles
. He was in an accident on January 23, 2004, when his car sped out of control and hit a wall in the driveway of the Chateau Marmont which had for several years served as his residence in Southern California. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
. His ashes are buried next to Marlene Dietrich
at the Städtischer Friedhof III
in Berlin.
Early life
Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara "Claire" (Marquis) and Max Neustädter, a button factory owner. His family was Jewish. Newton attended the Heinrich-von-TreitschkeHeinrich von Treitschke
Heinrich Gotthard von Treitschke was a nationalist German historian and political writer during the time of the German Empire.-Early life and teaching career:...
-Realgymnasium and the American School in Berlin. Interested in photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
from the age of 12 when he purchased his first camera, he worked for the German photographer Yva (Elsie Neulander Simon) from 1936. The increasingly oppressive restrictions placed on Jews by the Nuremberg laws meant that his father lost control of the factory in which he manufactured buttons and buckles; he was briefly interned in a concentration camp on 'Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
,' November 9, 1938, which finally compelled the family to leave Germany. Newton's parents fled to South America. He was issued with a passport just after turning 18, and left Germany on December 5, 1938. At Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
he boarded the 'Conte Rosso' (along with about 200 others escaping the Nazis) intending to journey to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. After arriving in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
he found he was able to remain there, first and briefly as a photographer for the Straits Times and then as a portrait photographer.
Life in Australia
Newton was interned by British authorities while in Singapore, and was sent to Australia on board the Queen Mary, arriving in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on September 27, 1940. Internees travelled to the camp of Tatura
Tatura, Victoria
Tatura is a town 17 km west-south-west of Shepparton in Victoria, Australia located 3 km off the Midland Highway, forming part of the City of Greater Shepparton. At the 2006 census, Tatura had a population of 3,533, however the true figure is believed to be close to 4,400. Attractions...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
by train under armed guard. He was released from internment in 1942, and briefly worked as a fruit picker in northern Victoria. In April 1942, he enlisted with the Australian Army and worked as a truck driver. After the war in 1945, he became an Australian citizen and changed his name to Newton in 1946. In 1948, he married actress June Browne
June Browne
June Browne Newton born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1923 is an Australian actress who later became a successful photographer under the ironic pseudonym 'Alice Springs' ....
, who performed under the stage name June Brunell. She later became a successful photographer under the ironic pseudonym Alice Springs (after Alice Springs, the central Australian town).
In 1946, Newton set up a studio in fashionable Flinders Lane and worked on fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
and theater photography in the affluent post-war years. He shared his first joint exhibition in May 1953 with Wolfgang Sievers
Wolfgang Sievers
Wolfgang Georg Sievers, AO was an Australian photographer who specialised in architectural and industrial photography.Seivers was born in Berlin, Germany...
, a German refugee like himself who had also served in the same company. The exhibition of 'New Visions in Photography' was displayed at the Federal Hotel in Collins Street
Collins Street, Melbourne
Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's traditional main street and best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings.The...
and was probably the first glimpse of 'New Objectivity
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity is a term used to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it...
' photography in Australia. Newton went into partnership with Henry Talbot
Henry Talbot (photographer)
Henry Talbot, born Heinz Tichauer was a German-Australian fashion photographer noted for his long association with the Australian fashion industry, particularly the Australian Wool Board.-Life and career:...
, a fellow German Jew who had also been interned at Tatura, and his association with the studio continued even after 1957, when he left Australia for London. The studio was renamed 'Helmut Newton and Henry Talbot'.
London 1950s
Newton's growing reputation as a fashion photographer was rewarded when he secured a commission to illustrate fashions in a special Australian supplement for Vogue magazine, published in January 1956. He won a 12-month contract with British Vogue and left for London in February 1957, leaving Talbot to manage the business. Newton left the magazine before the end of his contract and went to Paris, where he worked for French and German magazines. He returned to Melbourne in March 1959 to a contract for Australian Vogue.Paris 1960s
Newton settled in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1961 and continued work as a fashion photographer. His works appeared in magazines including, most significantly, French Vogue and Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
. He established a particular style marked by erotic, stylized scenes, often with sado-masochistic
Sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
and fetishistic
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
subtexts. A heart attack in 1970 slowed Newton's output, but his notoriety continued to increase, most notably with his 1980 "Big Nudes" series, which marked the pinnacle of his erotic-urban style, underpinned with excellent technical skills. Newton also worked in portraiture and more fantastical studies.
Newton shot a number of pictorials for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, including pictorials of Nastassia Kinski and Kristine DeBell
Kristine DeBell
-Career:Born at Chatham, New York, DeBell began her career as a fashion model with Ford Models. She later moved into acting, debuting as the star of an X-rated film version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland....
. Original prints of the photographs from his August 1976 pictorial of DeBell, "200 Motels, or How I Spent My Summer Vacation" were sold at auctions of Playboy archives by Bonhams
Bonhams
Bonhams is a privately owned British auction house founded in 1793. It is the third largest auctioneer after Sotheby's and Christie's, and conducts around 700 auctions per year. It has 700 employees....
in 2002 for $21,075, and by Christies in December 2003 for $26,290.
Establishment of Helmut Newton Foundation
Newton was fond of his hometown of Berlin, and in October 2003 he donated an extensive photo collection to the Prussian Cultural Heritage FoundationPrussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation , headquartered in Berlin, Germany, is one of the largest cultural institutions in the world. It was founded by a West German federal law passed on 25 July 1957, with the mission to acquire and protect the cultural legacy of the former state of Prussia...
, establishing the Helmut Newton Foundation. The foundation's mission is the conservation, protection and presentation of the oeuvre of Helmut Newton and Alice Springs.
"Three Boys from Pasadena"
In 2009, June Browne Newton conceptualized a tribute exhibition to Helmut based around three photographers who had trained extensively under Helmut: Mark Arbeit, Just Loomis, and George HolzGeorge Holz
George Holz is an American photographer known for his fashion and celebrity portraiture.-Early career:A native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, he was educated at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. While there, he apprenticed with Helmut Newton...
. All three had been photography students at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
in 1979 when they became Newton's longtime assistants, and all three went on to independent careers. The exhibit premiered at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin and combined the work of all three with personal snapshots, contact sheets, and letters from their time with Helmut.
Death
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
and Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. He was in an accident on January 23, 2004, when his car sped out of control and hit a wall in the driveway of the Chateau Marmont which had for several years served as his residence in Southern California. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Originally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
. His ashes are buried next to Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
at the Städtischer Friedhof III
Städtischer Friedhof III
Städtischer Friedhof III is a cemetery in the Friedenau district of the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. Buried here are Ferruccio Busoni , Marlene Dietrich and Helmut Newton ....
in Berlin.
Published works
- Marshall Blonsky & Helmut Newton, Private Property, Schirmer Art Books, 1989
- Guy Featherstone, 'Helmut Newton's Australian years', in The La Trobe Journal, The State Library of Victoria Foundation, No 76, Spring, 2005
- Klaus Honnef & Helmut Newton, Helmut Newton: Portraits, Schirmer Art Books, 1986
- Klaus Neumann, 'In the Interest of National Security: Civilian Internment in Australia during World War II', Canberra: National Archives of Australia, 2006.
- Helmut Newton, White Women, New York: Congreve, 1976
- Helmut Newton, Sleepless Nights, New York: Congreve, 1978
- Helmut Newton, Big Nudes, Paris: Editions du Regard, 1981
- Helmut Newton, They're Coming!Paris: French Vogue 1981
- Helmut Newton, World Without Men, New York: Xavier Moreau, 1984
- Helmut Newton & June Newton, Helmut Newton Work, edited by Manfred Heiting, Taschen, 2000
- Helmut Newton, Sumo, TaschenTaschenTaschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. It began as Taschen Comics publishing Benedikt's extensive comic collection...
, 2000 - Helmut Newton, Autobiography, Nan A. Talese, 2003
- Helmut Newton, A Gun for Hire, edited by June Newton, Taschen, 2005
- Helmut Newton, Playboy:Helmut Newton, Chronicle Books (2005)
External links
- Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin
- Exhibitions with Helmut Newton on Artfacts – Helmut Newton's works are still widely at present in various shows and permanent collections in museums or galleries throughout the world
- Helmut Newton @ pHinnWeb
- Books and Exhibition of Helmut Newton
- Pictures made by Helmut Newton
- Photo of the memorial plate at the birthplace of Newton in Berlin-Schöneberg, Innsbrucker Straße 24.
- Helmut Newton's portfolio (213 photos)
- View of Newton's birthplace in Berlin
- More Helmut Newton Photographs
- MADEinPHOTO.fr Gallery of the most important photographers of the XX° century
- Melbourne post-war photography State Library of Victoria, Australia