Helmut Newton (born Helmut Neustädter; 31 October 1920 – 23 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The New York Times described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."[1]
Plaque of his birthhouse in Schöneberg, Berlin. Translation: At this spot used to stand the birthhouse of HELMUT NEUSTÄDTER (1920–2004), son of Jewish parents. After his emigration in 1938 he became known as HELMUT NEWTON, one of the most famous photographers worldwide.
Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara "Claire" (née Marquis) and Max Neustädter, a button factory owner.[2] His family was Jewish.[3] Newton attended the Heinrich-von-Treitschke-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 Neuländer 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, 9 November 1938, which finally compelled the family to leave Germany. Newton's parents fled to Argentina.[4] He was issued with a passport just after turning 18 and left Germany on 5 December 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 briefly as a photographer for the Straits Times and then as a portrait photographer.
From 1940: Life in Australia
Newton was interned by British authorities while in Singapore and was sent to Australia on board the Queen Mary, arriving in Sydney on 27 September 1940.[5] Internees travelled to the camp at Tatura by train under armed guard. He was released from internment in 1942 and briefly worked as a fruit picker in Northern Victoria. In August 1942, he enlisted with the Australian Army and worked as a truck driver. After the war in 1945, he became a British subject and changed his name to Newton in 1946.
Helmut Newton's 1950 portrait of his wife June, modelling a "Hat of the Week" for Myer's Department Store.[6]
In 1948, he married actress June Browne, who performed under the stage name June Brunell. Later she became a successful photographer under the ironic pseudonym Alice Springs (after Alice Springs, the town in Central Australia).
In 1946, Newton set up a studio in fashionable Flinders Lane in Melbourne and worked on fashion, theatre and industrial photography in the affluent postwar years.[7] 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'.
Late 1950s: to London, Europe, a return to Australia
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.
1961: to Paris
Newton and his wife finally settled in Paris in 1961 and the work continued as a fashion photographer. His images appeared in magazines including the French edition of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.
He established a particular style marked by erotic, stylised scenes, often with sado-masochistic and fetishistic subtexts. A heart attack in 1970 reduced Newton's output, nevertheless his wife's encouragement led to his profile continuing to expand, especially with a big success, the 1980 studio-bound stark infinity of the "Big Nudes" series. His "Naked and Dressed" portfolio followed and in 1992 "Domestic Nudes" which marked the pinnacle of his erotic-urban style, these series all underpinned with the prowess of his technical skills.[8] Newton also worked in portraiture and more fantastical studies.
Newton shot a number of pictorials for Playboy, including pictorials of Nastassja Kinski and Kristine DeBell.[9] 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,[10] and by Christie's in December 2003 for $26,290.[11]
"Three Boys from Pasadena"
In 2009, June Browne conceptualised a tribute exhibition to Newton, based on three photographers that befriended Newton in Los Angeles in 1980: Mark Arbeit, Just Loomis, and George Holz. All three had been photography students at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. All three became friends with Helmut and June Newton and to varying degrees assisted Helmut Newton. Each 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 Newton.[12]
Polaroids
Since the 1970s Newton regularly used Polaroid cameras and film for instant visualisation of compositions and lighting situations, especially for his fashion photography. By his own admission, for the shoot of Naked and Dressed series that started in 1981 for the Italian and French Vogue he used Polaroid film “by the crate”. These polaroids also served as a sketchbook, where he scribbled notes with regard to the model, client or location and date. In 1992 Newton published Pola Woman, a book consisting only of his Polaroids. Over 300 works based on the original Polaroids were shown at 2011 exhibition “Helmut Newton Polaroids” at the Museum für Fotografie in Berlin.[13]
Death
Helmut Newton's grave
In his later life, Newton lived in both Monte Carlo and Los Angeles, California where he spent winters at the Chateau Marmont, which he had done every year since 1957. On 23 January 2004, he suffered a serious heart attack[14] while driving his automobile down Marmont Lane from the Chateau Marmont to Sunset Boulevard. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; doctors were unable to save him, and he was pronounced dead.[15] His ashes are buried at the Städtischer Friedhof III in Berlin.
Memorial plaque at site of Helmut Newton's accident at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles, marking the spot where his car hit the wall
Helmut Newton Museum
Published works, during his life
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. (this is one of his numerous editorials in French Vogue, that's not a book)
Helmut Newton, World Without Men, New York: Xavier Moreau, 1984.
Klaus Honnef & Helmut Newton, Helmut Newton: Portraits, Schirmer Art Books, 1986.
Marshall Blonsky & Helmut Newton, Private Property, Schirmer Art Books, 1989.
Helmut Newton & June Newton, Helmut Newton Work, edited by Manfred Heiting, Taschen, 2000.
Helmut Newton, Autobiography, Nan A. Talese, 2003.
Published works, after his death
Helmut Newton, A Gun for Hire, edited by June Newton, Taschen, 2005.
Helmut Newton, Playboy: Helmut Newton, Chronicle Books, 2005.
Guy Featherstone, 'Helmut Newton's Australian years', in The La Trobe Journal, The State Library of Victoria Foundation, No 76, Spring, 2005.
Klaus Neumann, In the Interest of National Security: Civilian Internment in Australia during World War II, Canberra: National Archives of Australia, 2006.
References
^McKinley, Jesse (24 January 2004). "Helmut Newton, Who Remade Fashion Photography, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2011. Helmut Newton, the prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications, died yesterday after a car crash in Hollywood. He was 83. The Los Angeles police told The Associated Press that Mr. Newton lost control of his Cadillac after leaving the Chateau Marmont Hotel and climbed up a wall across the street. He died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the agency reported.
^Lane, Anthony (22 September 2003). "Exposures: Helmut Newton looks back". The New Yorker. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
^Newton, Helmut (2003), Autobiography: Helmut Newton, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, p. 65, ISBN9780385508070, retrieved 22 May 2013
^Riding, Alan (10 August 2004). "Photographer and His Art Are Home at Last". New York Times. p. 1E. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
^Neumann, Klaus. In the Interests of National Security, National Archives of Australia
^Helmut Newton's Australian years. Latrobe Journal, 2005
^Helmut Newton's Australian years - Guy Featherstone. The Latrobe Journal, No 76 Spring 2005
^Helmut Newton: The Photography Icon . . essay by Peter Kuzmin, July 2017
^Newton, Helmut. Playboy: Helmut Newton, Chronicle Books (2005).
^Herman, Eric (20 July 2003). . New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009.
^"Christie's Lot 257/Sale 1325". Christies.com. 17 December 2003. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
^Newton, June (2015), , archived from the original on 2 April 2015, retrieved 25 May 2015
^"Helmut Newton: Polaroids". HELMUT NEWTON FOUNDATION. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^June Newton (Writer) (2007). Helmut by June [Helmut by June] (television documentary).
^Matthews, Katherine Oktober (29 May 2013). "Man In the High Castle". GUP Magazine.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helmut Newton.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Helmut Newton.
Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin
Helmut Newton at Photogpedia
Photo of the memorial plate at the birthplace of Newton in Berlin-Schöneberg, Innsbrucker Straße 24
Melbourne post-war photography, State Library of Victoria, Australia
Pirelli Kalender-Entwurf von 1986
Helmut Newton 100 Years
March 15, 2023
helmut, newton, born, helmut, neustädter, october, 1920, january, 2004, german, australian, photographer, york, times, described, prolific, widely, imitated, fashion, photographer, whose, provocative, erotically, charged, black, white, photos, were, mainstay, . Helmut Newton born Helmut Neustadter 31 October 1920 23 January 2004 was a German Australian photographer The New York Times described him as a prolific widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative erotically charged black and white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications 1 Helmut NewtonPortrait from his grave site by his wifeBornHelmut Neustadter 1920 10 31 31 October 1920Berlin GermanyDied23 January 2004 2004 01 23 aged 83 Los Angeles California United StatesNationalityGerman AustralianOccupationPhotographerSpouseJune Browne m 1948 wbr Contents 1 Early life 2 From 1940 Life in Australia 3 Late 1950s to London Europe a return to Australia 4 1961 to Paris 5 Three Boys from Pasadena 6 Polaroids 7 Death 8 Published works during his life 9 Published works after his death 10 References 11 External linksEarly life Edit Plaque of his birthhouse in Schoneberg Berlin Translation At this spot used to stand the birthhouse of HELMUT NEUSTADTER 1920 2004 son of Jewish parents After his emigration in 1938 he became known as HELMUT NEWTON one of the most famous photographers worldwide Newton was born in Berlin the son of Klara Claire nee Marquis and Max Neustadter a button factory owner 2 His family was Jewish 3 Newton attended the Heinrich von Treitschke 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 9 November 1938 which finally compelled the family to leave Germany Newton s parents fled to Argentina 4 He was issued with a passport just after turning 18 and left Germany on 5 December 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 briefly as a photographer for the Straits Times and then as a portrait photographer From 1940 Life in Australia EditNewton was interned by British authorities while in Singapore and was sent to Australia on board the Queen Mary arriving in Sydney on 27 September 1940 5 Internees travelled to the camp at Tatura by train under armed guard He was released from internment in 1942 and briefly worked as a fruit picker in Northern Victoria In August 1942 he enlisted with the Australian Army and worked as a truck driver After the war in 1945 he became a British subject and changed his name to Newton in 1946 Helmut Newton s 1950 portrait of his wife June modelling a Hat of the Week for Myer s Department Store 6 In 1948 he married actress June Browne who performed under the stage name June Brunell Later she became a successful photographer under the ironic pseudonym Alice Springs after Alice Springs the town in Central Australia In 1946 Newton set up a studio in fashionable Flinders Lane in Melbourne and worked on fashion theatre and industrial photography in the affluent postwar years 7 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 Late 1950s to London Europe a return to Australia EditNewton 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 1961 to Paris EditNewton and his wife finally settled in Paris in 1961 and the work continued as a fashion photographer His images appeared in magazines including the French edition of Vogue and Harper s Bazaar He established a particular style marked by erotic stylised scenes often with sado masochistic and fetishistic subtexts A heart attack in 1970 reduced Newton s output nevertheless his wife s encouragement led to his profile continuing to expand especially with a big success the 1980 studio bound stark infinity of the Big Nudes series His Naked and Dressed portfolio followed and in 1992 Domestic Nudes which marked the pinnacle of his erotic urban style these series all underpinned with the prowess of his technical skills 8 Newton also worked in portraiture and more fantastical studies Newton shot a number of pictorials for Playboy including pictorials of Nastassja Kinski and Kristine DeBell 9 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 10 and by Christie s in December 2003 for 26 290 11 Three Boys from Pasadena EditIn 2009 June Browne conceptualised a tribute exhibition to Newton based on three photographers that befriended Newton in Los Angeles in 1980 Mark Arbeit Just Loomis and George Holz All three had been photography students at The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena California All three became friends with Helmut and June Newton and to varying degrees assisted Helmut Newton Each 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 Newton 12 Polaroids EditSince the 1970s Newton regularly used Polaroid cameras and film for instant visualisation of compositions and lighting situations especially for his fashion photography By his own admission for the shoot of Naked and Dressed series that started in 1981 for the Italian and French Vogue he used Polaroid film by the crate These polaroids also served as a sketchbook where he scribbled notes with regard to the model client or location and date In 1992 Newton published Pola Woman a book consisting only of his Polaroids Over 300 works based on the original Polaroids were shown at 2011 exhibition Helmut Newton Polaroids at the Museum fur Fotografie in Berlin 13 Death Edit Helmut Newton s grave In his later life Newton lived in both Monte Carlo and Los Angeles California where he spent winters at the Chateau Marmont which he had done every year since 1957 On 23 January 2004 he suffered a serious heart attack 14 while driving his automobile down Marmont Lane from the Chateau Marmont to Sunset Boulevard He was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center doctors were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead 15 His ashes are buried at the Stadtischer Friedhof III in Berlin Memorial plaque at site of Helmut Newton s accident at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles marking the spot where his car hit the wall Helmut Newton MuseumPublished works during his life EditHelmut 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 this is one of his numerous editorials in French Vogue that s not a book Helmut Newton World Without Men New York Xavier Moreau 1984 Klaus Honnef amp Helmut Newton Helmut Newton Portraits Schirmer Art Books 1986 Marshall Blonsky amp Helmut Newton Private Property Schirmer Art Books 1989 Helmut Newton Sumo book Taschen 1999 Helmut Newton amp June Newton Helmut Newton Work edited by Manfred Heiting Taschen 2000 Helmut Newton Autobiography Nan A Talese 2003 Published works after his death EditHelmut Newton A Gun for Hire edited by June Newton Taschen 2005 Helmut Newton Playboy Helmut Newton Chronicle Books 2005 Guy Featherstone Helmut Newton s Australian years in The La Trobe Journal The State Library of Victoria Foundation No 76 Spring 2005 Klaus Neumann In the Interest of National Security Civilian Internment in Australia during World War II Canberra National Archives of Australia 2006 References Edit McKinley Jesse 24 January 2004 Helmut Newton Who Remade Fashion Photography Dies at 83 The New York Times Retrieved 14 May 2011 Helmut Newton the prolific widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative erotically charged black and white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications died yesterday after a car crash in Hollywood He was 83 The Los Angeles police told The Associated Press that Mr Newton lost control of his Cadillac after leaving the Chateau Marmont Hotel and climbed up a wall across the street He died at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center the agency reported Lane Anthony 22 September 2003 Exposures Helmut Newton looks back The New Yorker Retrieved 22 May 2013 Newton Helmut 2003 Autobiography Helmut Newton Nan A Talese Doubleday p 65 ISBN 9780385508070 retrieved 22 May 2013 Riding Alan 10 August 2004 Photographer and His Art Are Home at Last New York Times p 1E Retrieved 13 October 2019 Neumann Klaus In the Interests of National Security National Archives of Australia Helmut Newton s Australian years Latrobe Journal 2005 Helmut Newton s Australian years Guy Featherstone The Latrobe Journal No 76 Spring 2005 Helmut Newton The Photography Icon essay by Peter Kuzmin July 2017 Newton Helmut Playboy Helmut Newton Chronicle Books 2005 Herman Eric 20 July 2003 For Playboy lovers cup runneth over New York Daily News Archived from the original on 12 April 2009 Christie s Lot 257 Sale 1325 Christies com 17 December 2003 Retrieved 13 June 2013 Newton June 2015 Three Boys From Pasadena archived from the original on 2 April 2015 retrieved 25 May 2015 Helmut Newton Polaroids HELMUT NEWTON FOUNDATION Retrieved 21 July 2022 June Newton Writer 2007 Helmut by June Helmut by June television documentary Matthews Katherine Oktober 29 May 2013 Man In the High Castle GUP Magazine External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helmut Newton Wikiquote has quotations related to Helmut Newton Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin Helmut Newton at Photogpedia Photo of the memorial plate at the birthplace of Newton in Berlin Schoneberg Innsbrucker Strasse 24 Melbourne post war photography State Library of Victoria Australia Pirelli Kalender Entwurf von 1986 Helmut Newton 100 Years Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Helmut Newton amp oldid 1124166918, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
