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Helmut newton work12/2/2023 Another inspiration is the work of the Berlin doc umentary photographer Erich Salomon, who died in Auschwitz. He loves the night-time photography of Brassaï - the two became friends a few years before the latter died - and says he's influenced by him still. In 1936, he was apprenticed to Yva, a society photographer. Soon, he started to take pictures of his mother and his girlfriends, and before long it was accepted that he would not be going to work in his father's button factory. As a child, his mother would take him to tea dances at grand hotels, which he loved. Next, he shot, successfully, the city's Radio Tower ("a mini Eiffel Tower") in daylight. First, he tried some night-time shots on the darkened Berlin underground, but they didn't come out. Newton was born there in 1920, and was 12 when he first tried photography, with a Box Brownie. He concedes that the decadence that so famously permeated 30s Berlin left its mark on his young psyche. My wife said, 'When you look at your pictures, you cannot deny your past.' " But, on the other hand, you can't get out of your skin, there is a certain, I won't say vision, but point of view that is always with me. I can't think of anything more boring than walking into an exhibition and seeing the same old shit! Without evolution, things look sad. "That's something you do when you're dead. The exhibition, Helmut Newton: Work, to be shown later this month at the Barbican, London, has been curated by June and, Newton is keen to point out, is most definitely not a retrospective. The climate is good for his health (he has a heart condition) and, in the winter months, they follow the sun to Los Angeles. He and his wife June (also a photographer - her professional name is Alice Springs) have lived in an apartment adjoining the office for the past 20 years. Newton himself, bright-eyed and craggy-faced, is altogether affable as he directs me to the "boss's chair" in his office overlooking the bay of Monte Carlo. But they are not always easy to understand they're unsettling and chilling. The portraits are elegant and coldly revealing, and the fashion photography - unfurling, inexplicable dramas depicted in night-time settings and peopled by sleek, Amazonian women - have for decades been consistent in their vividness and vision. His photography is beautiful, powerful and disturbing too. Yet Newton's longevity - and his legendary status - point to something more. His pictures are known for their cold, voyeuristic mood, and even now they have the power to shock. Being professionally "dangerous" has been Newton's thing ever since the 60s, when his fashion photography brought nudity and overtly sexual imagery on to the glossy pages of French Vogue and Germany's Stern. That this tanned, octo-genarian, in his smart-but-casual, v-necked Côte d'Azur attire, should be armed with a pistol seems a little surprising. Working and living in close companionship with his wife until his death at 83, through his last click of the shutter he continued to be as distinctive and influential as ever.Helmut Newton is holding out a gun for my inspection. In 1996, he was appointed “Commandeur de l`Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Minister of Culture. In 1990 he was awarded the “Grand Prix National” for photography in 1992 was awarded by the German government “Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz” for his services to German culture and was appointed “Officer des Arts, Lettres et Sciences” by S.A.S. His mixture of controversial scenarios, bold lighting, and striking compositions came to form his signature look. Eschewing studios for the most part, Newton preferred to shoot in the streets or in interiors. He achieved international fame in the 1970`s while working principally for French Vogue, and over the next three decades his celebrity and influence continued to grow. Born in Berlin, he arrived in Australia in 1940 and married June Brunell (a.k.a. Helmut Newton (1920-2004) was one of the most influential fashion photographers of all time. Overzichtswerk van de fotograaf Helmut Newton. Helmut Newton - Work quantity Add to cart
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