Exhibition by Fashion Photographer Helmut Newton opens at Museum für Fotografie |
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| Sunday, 30 November 2008 04:04 |
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Fired from French Vogue: "In 1964 I was commissioned by Queen magazine to photograph the revolutionary collection by Courrèges. The fashion editor, Claire Rendlesham, decided on a journalistic scoop showing only my Courrèges photos and excluding all other fashion houses from her Paris report. When Queen landed on the desk of Françoise de Langlade (then associate editor-in-chief of French Vogue) she hit the roof. I was called into her office, we had a tremendous row, she accused me of treachery and disloyalty and wanted to know why I had not told her about this scoop. I pointed out to her that I had no exclusive contract with Vogue, and it was of course understood that I would never divulge any ideas developed by French Vogue to Queen or vice versa. So I was kicked out of the hallowed halls of Vogue only to return in 1969 when Francine Crescent was appointed editor-in-chief. During Francine's regime, I did what I considered my best fashion work. I was to be a regular contributor until 1983." . . . Helmut Newton, from: Pages from the Glossies, Zurich: Scalo, 1998 "The news of Helmut's banishment from French Vogue soon reached Claude Brouet, the editor-in-chief of "ELLE" magazine, who offered him work on the magazine. Helmut continued working for English and German magazines. He was able to adapt his style to the policy of the many magazines he worked for." ... June Newton, Monte Carlo 2008 Born in Berlin in 1920 to a wealthy Jewish family, Helmut Newton was a delicate child prone to fainting. When he was around 8 years old his brother began showing him the 'gutter' of Berlin, a red light district which was inhabited by prostitutes like the 'Red Erna', who wore thigh boots and carried a whip. Helmut remembers, "my eyes were poppin' out of my head." But the Newtons lived at the other end of the social scale, vacationing at posh European spas and hotels that would later become his backdrops. At 12 he saved his money to purchase his first camera at a five-and-dime. The first roll of film he shot was at an underground subway. The whole role came back black except for the one image he shot above ground. A few years later he decided to travel abroad and become a famous photo reporter. "In 1936 I arranged to have myself thrown out of school as a hopeless pupil," says Helmut. With the help of his mother Helmut began working as an apprentice for Else Simon, a female fashion-and-portrait photographer who operated a studio under the name of Yva. His father's prophetic response to the chosen path was, "My boy, you'll end up on the gutter."  In the late 1950's he found work at 'Jardin des Modes' and in 1961 began a long-running and fruitful association with French Vogue which would last until 1983. During this period he would also work for Elle, Marie Claire, Queen, Nova, Playboy, Stern,US and Italian Vogue. Helmut published his first book 'White Women' in 1976, which featured the most radical selections from this period. Despite negative American reviews it sold some 1500 copies in a week there. 'The Eyes of Laura Mars' was a Hollywood film inspired by the photos by Helmut Newton. Ironically the photos he contributed to the film were not satisfactory. The director wanted scenes of blood and corpses which were of no interest to Helmut. He defended his fashion photos as erotic rather than violent. Countless essays have attempted to deconstruct the elaborate and heavily coded world depicted in his photographs. His photos are tough, polished, aggressive, cold, and disconcerting. They reflect an internal world that generates a sense of unease. He achieves a delicate and difficult balance between flattery and caricature. There's a lot going on in his narrative photos. "What I find interesting is working in a society with certain taboos - and fashion photography is about that kind of society", says Newton. "To have taboos, then to get around them - that's interesting." The ironic thing is that he's made taboos more acceptable, at least to some segments of the population. In many ways Helmut mocks the fashion industry as he strengthens it. He blatantly exposes a side of it that is difficult to detect or absent in other fashion photography. Take for example one of his better known works 'Sie kommen!' ('Here They Come!'), which copies are sold for more than $55,000. It is a two part image, one image depicts the models clothed and the other they are in the exact same position, but nude. In a strange way the nude depiction lacks much of the sexuality you'd expect, due to aggressive posturing. Their nudity has become dress, they are in essence fashion warriors. They say, 'Look, but don't touch. Look, we are coming... but not for you.' They send the message, as with fashion, 'Look and die with desire.' While this may not be the desire of the beholder, it is definitely that of the fashion wearer. Visit The Helmut Newton Foundation at : http://www.helmutnewton.com/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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