Helmut Newton Biography and Artwork

born Berlin (GERMANY) 1920 died Los Angeles, CA (USA) 2004

Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustadter (October 31, 1920 – January 23, 2004) was a well known fashion photographer. He was especially famous for his many nude studies of women.

He was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of a Jewish garment factory owner. His mother was American. He attended the Werner von Trotschke Gymnasium and the American School in Berlin. Interested in photography from a young age, he worked for the German photographer Else Simon, known as Yva. He left Germany in 1938 and worked briefly in Singapore as a photographer for the Straits Times. He served with the Australian Army during World War II, from 1940 to 1945, working in logistics.

In 1948 he married the Australian actress June Browne. Postwar he worked as a freelance photographer, producing fashion shoots and work for magazines such as Playboy. From the late 1950s he concentrated on fashion photography (see also fashion photography).

He settled in Paris in 1961 and began extensive work as a fashion photographer. His works appeared in magazines including, most significantly, French Vogue. He established a particular style marked by erotic, stylised scenes, often with sado-masochistic and fetishistic subtexts. A heart attack in 1970 slowed his output somewhat but he extended his work and his notoriety/fame greatly increased, notably with his 1980 "Big Nudes" series which marked the pinnacle of his erotic-urban style, underpinned with excellent technical skills. He also worked in portraiture and more fantastical studies.

In October 2003 he donated an extensive photo collection to the foundation Preubischer Kulturbesitz (Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage) in Berlin. It is currently on display at the Museum of Photography near the Berlin-Zoo railway station. Newton loved his hometown of Berlin.

Lately he lived in Monte Carlo and Los Angeles. He died in a car crash in Hollywood, California when his car hit a wall in the driveway of the famous Chateau Marmont, the hotel on Sunset Boulevard which had for several years served as his residence whenever he was in southern California. His ashes are buried in the Stadtischen Friedhof III, Berlin-Schoneberg, Stubenrauchstrabe 43-45. Schoneberg in Berlin, Germany.

Select Timeline

Select Exhibitions

Select Artwork

• Mick Jagger, New York, 1978
• Walking Women, Paris (triptych detail), 1981
• Vogue Studio, Paris Self-portrait with Alexandra, 1981
• Cyberwomen 7, 2000
• Cyberwomen 1, 2000
• Hollywood, 1976
• Charlotte Rampling at the Hotel Nord Pinus II, Arles, 1973

Quotes

• "A favorite shot of mine is one of a woman wearing Bulgari jewels and stuffing a chicken. Needless to say, Bulgari thought it was a terrible thing for me to do with their jewels."
• "I get inspired, in America, by a certain kind of sleaziness. I do like luxury, but I've done a lot of that in the past."
• "I have mixed feelings about those sorts of things. When I see it done by interesting young people, I think it's very valid. But when established photographers, people in their forties, copy me and get a lot of money, well, I find that to be very stupid."
• "I like photographing the people I love, the people I admire, the famous, and especially the infamous. My last infamous subject was the extreme right wing French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen."
• "I like girls who are just starting. They have not been formed, they have no routine, they have not been in front of the camera."
• "I spend a lot of time preparing. I think a lot about what I want to do. I have prep books, little notebooks in which I write everything down before a sitting. Otherwise I would forget my ideas."
• "I was lucky to have my wife as the art director, and it turned out to be quite something - a great success. I'm very proud of it."
• "I will not have a PR woman looking over my shoulder. That's out of the question. What I photograph mostly in Hollywood are men or actresses I know. Pretty, young actresses are boring-unless they're brilliant."
• "In the photographs themselves there's a definite contrast between the figures and the location - I like that kind of California backyard look; clapboard houses, staircases outdoors."
• "It's that I don't like white paper backgrounds. A woman does not live in front of white paper. She lives on the street, in a motor car, in a hotel room."
• "People gave us everything for free. We were allowed only so much film per picture, but there was no limit to the creativity. I like to say that they let us loose like wild dogs in the streets of Paris."
• "The photographs are entitled 'Cyberwomen' because they are in cyberspace - the work is designed to only be sold on the internet - and because I just liked the title; it's a little bit like science-fiction, of which I am a fan."
• "The whole series is black-and-white, so when I went to shoot one of the women I only had black-and-white film with me. She had reddish hair and was a very pretty girl, a nice girl."
• "Well, it takes a certain amount of money. And I've got to see pictures of the person ahead of time. If I don't like the way the person looks I won't do it."

Publications

• The Best of Helmut Newton - by Helmut Newton, Zdenek Felix, Noemi Smolik, Urs Stahel, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Urs Stanhel, Thunder's Mouth Press; 1st Thunder's Mouth Press Ed edition (December 1996)
• Helmut Newton, a Gun for Hire (Photo Books S.) - by Helmut Newton, June Newton, Taschen (August 30, 2005)
• Helmut Newton's SUMO - by Helmut Newton, Taschen; includes stand, 1st edition (January 2000)
• The Best of Helmut Newton: Selections From His Photographic Work (Schirmer Art Books on Art, Photography & Erotics) - by Zdenek Felix, Noemi Smolik, Urs Stahel, Schirmer/Mosel (June 30, 2004)
• Helmut Newton: Big Nudes - by Karl Lagerfeld, Helmut Newton, Schirmer/Mosel; Bilingual edition (June 30, 2004)
• Playboy: Helmut Newton - by Helmut Newton, Hugh Hefner, Gary Cole, Mary Lynn Blasutta, Walter Abish, Chronicle Books (July 28, 2005)

Quick Facts

• Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustadter, was a German fashion photographer noted for his nude studies of women.
• In 1948 Newton married photographer and actress June Browne, who later changed her name to Alice Springs.
• Newton settled in Paris in 1961 and began extensive work as a fashion photographer.Newton was extremely fond of his hometown of Berlin, and in October 2003 he donated an extensive photo collection to the Preubischer Kulturbesitz foundation (Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage).

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