Berlin honors Helmut Newton
To mark the photographer's 80th birthday, the Neue Nationalgalerie is exhibiting his works
On the occasion of the photographer's 80th birthday, the Neue Nationalgalerie is showing his worksBy Chandra KurtFor some he is one of the greatest photographers of the century, for others an absolute sexist. What is certain is that Helmut Newton's images leave no one untouched. Until January 7, an exhibition in Berlin shows a cross-section of his work.
"I have always been accused of decadence. And I'm very happy about it," says a delighted Helmut Newton, who celebrated his 80th birthday on October 31. On the same day, a comprehensive exhibition of his work to date opened in Berlin at the Neue Nationalgalerie. It presents around 350 exhibits created between 1960 and 2000, with women as the dominant main subjects.
The photographer says: "I used to think that women and cars have the same eroticism. Today I have changed my view. A woman is more erotic than a car." Well, who says? But Newton's love for the female sex is unmistakable. After all, no other photographer of this decade so consistently depicts strong, androgynous and unassailable women. "Anyone who understands my pictures realizes that I love women, otherwise I wouldn't portray them the way I do: confident and in control. I'm a feminist in my own way."
Soon to be 40 years Newton snaps for Vogue
Newton was born in Berlin in 1920. He attended the Werner-von-Treitschke Gymnasium until the Nuremberg Laws required the separation of Jewish from Aryan students. His father, appalled by his son's desire to become a photographer, then sent him to the American School in Berlin. But as a hopelessly lazy student whose interests were girls and photography, he was kicked out of school shortly thereafter.
In 1936, he apprenticed with Yva, a photographer who was later murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz. Two years later he worked as a photo reporter for the Singapore Straits Times. A few years in Australia followed. In 1948 he married the actress June Brunell, who made a name for herself as a photographer from 1970 under the name Alice Springs and had a lasting influence on his work. From 1961 Newton worked mainly for French Vogue, which published his most important fashion photographs for 25 years.
The exhibition in Berlin shows a selection of them. Also on display are erotic photographs, the Big Nudes and other nudes of strong women: Shots from the personal environment and photomontages. The special thing about it is that his work is presented as a whole. No distinctions are made between commissioned works, personal snapshots and his own creations. Certainly one reason why the exhibition initially gives an uneasy impression. The unity of the color and black-and-white photographs only becomes perceptible with time.
"I have always been accused of decadence. And I'm very happy about it," says a delighted Helmut Newton, who celebrated his 80th birthday on October 31. On the same day, a comprehensive exhibition of his work to date opened in Berlin at the Neue Nationalgalerie. It presents around 350 exhibits created between 1960 and 2000, with women as the dominant main subjects.
The photographer says: "I used to think that women and cars have the same eroticism. Today I have changed my view. A woman is more erotic than a car." Well, who says? But Newton's love for the female sex is unmistakable. After all, no other photographer of this decade so consistently depicts strong, androgynous and unassailable women. "Anyone who understands my pictures realizes that I love women, otherwise I wouldn't portray them the way I do: confident and in control. I'm a feminist in my own way."
Soon to be 40 years Newton snaps for Vogue
Newton was born in Berlin in 1920. He attended the Werner-von-Treitschke Gymnasium until the Nuremberg Laws required the separation of Jewish from Aryan students. His father, appalled by his son's desire to become a photographer, then sent him to the American School in Berlin. But as a hopelessly lazy student whose interests were girls and photography, he was kicked out of school shortly thereafter.
In 1936, he apprenticed with Yva, a photographer who was later murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz. Two years later he worked as a photo reporter for the Singapore Straits Times. A few years in Australia followed. In 1948 he married the actress June Brunell, who made a name for herself as a photographer from 1970 under the name Alice Springs and had a lasting influence on his work. From 1961 Newton worked mainly for French Vogue, which published his most important fashion photographs for 25 years.
The exhibition in Berlin shows a selection of them. Also on display are erotic photographs, the Big Nudes and other nudes of strong women: Shots from the personal environment and photomontages. The special thing about it is that his work is presented as a whole. No distinctions are made between commissioned works, personal snapshots and his own creations. Certainly one reason why the exhibition initially gives an uneasy impression. The unity of the color and black-and-white photographs only becomes perceptible with time.
