![]() ![]() As such, the concrete evaluations of Newton's work perhaps say more about the audience than the artist himself. On a more abstract level his photographs are timeless precisely because they force the viewer to grapple with the themes. Newton was not only courting controversy with his depictions of the dynamics of sex and gender. Newton's appeal came from the fact that his photographs eluded classification - exploitation and emancipation, voyeurism and eroticism, subjugation and empowerment were constantly invoked together. The larger-than-life presentation of the nude pictures was enthusiastically received as a new concept. The pictures showed naked women in martial poses from a slightly lower, and thus imposing, angle. Inspired by reports of life-sized photographs of members of the left-wing militant Red Army Faction (RAF) in the rooms of an anti-terrorism unit, he launched "The Terrorists," a working title, in 1982. The story behind his most famous photography project "Big Nudes" makes this clear. One thing is obvious, Newton's work dealt with power over the human body. It was for this reason that feminist Alice Schwarzer accused Newton of getting off on "breaking a strong woman." Timeless photographs expose their audience He brought back the male gaze over newly empowered women for an increasingly insecure male audience. Image: Paul Zinken/dpa/picture-allianceĪt the same time, however, his pictures repeatedly showed stories of female subjugation. Aber auch für einen schnellen Schnappschuss sind sie geeignet.Newton's compositions influence photographers around the world to this day. Bis heute beeinflussen die Kompositionen von Newton Fotografen auf der ganzen Welt. He made no secret of his fascination with the Nazi sympathizing film director Leni Riefenstahl. On the one hand his models appeared as self-confident, powerful icons - tall, strong women, captured in black and white, with imposing shadows. Following the sexual revolution, he turned increasingly to nude photography and depicted his models with controversial ambivalence. This whole nudity thing that he's famous for today, that all came later." Nude photography brings fame - and critiqueĪs June pointed out, the deciding moment in Newton's rise came in the 1970s. "Before he got the young things to take their clothes off," said his wife June in 2016, "he was a fashion photographer, a picture taker you could hire. Newton often depicted his models as cold, female icons, as seen in his piece "Charlotte Rampling as Venus in Fur." Image: Ingo Wagner/picture-allianceīy now he was a successful photographer in advertising, portraits and fashion, but he was not yet the icon he would later become. In the 1950s he traveled through Europe and worked for several magazines, including the British, Australian and finally in 1961, the French Vogue fashion magazine. ![]() His portrait and fashion photography was in ever greater demand. Newton, as he was now called, opened a small photography studio in Melbourne and in 1947 he met the actress June Brunell. Upon arriving in Australia, he worked for five years as a simple soldier and truck driver for the army. With two cameras in his luggage, he fled to Australia via Singapore. ![]() Two years later he was forced to flee Germany as the Nazis carried out the " Kristallnacht" pogrom. ![]() In 1936, at the age of 16, Helmut took up an apprenticeship under the successful fashion photographer Yva (real name: Elsa Ernestine Neuländer-Simon). Image: Markus Schreiber/picture alliance/AP Photo Escaping the Nazisīorn Helmut Neustädter into a German Jewish family, he decided early that he wanted to become a photographer, against the will of his father, an affluent button-maker. Newton's shoots were planned down to the last detail: he used analogue and hated wasting film. From refugee to superstar, he was renowned as the portraitist of different German chancellors, and, more controversially, of nude models. Born on Octoin Berlin, Helmut Newton was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. ![]()
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