Read more
From well-known portraits of Monaco's "beautiful people" to rarely seen landscapes, this collection of images documents two decades of Helmut Newton's love affair with a sun-kissed world.
Helmut Newton was in his 60s and a well-established photographer when he and his wife moved to the Riviera. At an age when many people would consider beginning retirement, Newton instead plunged headfirst into one of the most prolific and liberating stages of his career. The city of Monaco was the perfect backdrop for his fashion photography, and it also provided him with a wealth of subjects for his famous portraits, including the stars of the Ballet de Monte-Carlo and the Princely Family. And it was in Monaco that Newton finally tried his hand at landscapes. While this volume focuses primarily on the years of 1981-2004, it also looks at Newton's historic links with the Côte d'Azur and the area around Bordighera, Italy. There are essays by a range of experts in the field of photography, film, and art and three interviews, including one with Paloma Picasso. In these remarkable photographs readers will discover the Riviera through Newton's fascinated, slightly ironic lens: a way of life characterized by ease and elegance, a world dominated by appearance and superficiality, and a veritable living theatre in which he was both actor and privileged member of the audience.
About the author
Matthias Harder is the director of the Newton Foundation in Berlin.Guillaume de Sardes, is a writer, photographer, historian of art and a French curator of art and photography.Helmut Newton, geboren 1920 in Berlin, entwickelte in seinen Mode- und Aktfotografien eine unverwechselbare Ästhetik. Beeinflusst durch die Arbeiten von Erich Salomon und Brassaï inszenierte er als einer der ersten Modefotografen seine Models nicht im Studio, sondern in stilisierten Alltagssituationen und erstaunte seine Auftraggeber durch seine Darstellung herausfordernd starker und erotischer Frauen. Seine Bildersprache prägte über Jahre das Modemagazin »Vogue«. In den 80er Jahren konzentrierte er sich auf Aktfotografie, sein Bildband »Big Nudes« wurde legendär. Helmut Newton, der zahlreiche Auszeichnungen, darunter u.a. das Bundesverdienstkreuz, erhielt, gehört zu den eigensinnigsten und bewundertsten Fotografen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Im Januar 2004 kam Helmut Newton bei einem Verkehrsunfall in Hollywood ums Leben. Drei Monate vor seinem Tod hatte er 1000 Werke aus seinem umfangreichen Archiv seiner Heimatstadt Berlin überlassen.
Summary
From well-known portraits of Monaco’s “beautiful people” to rarely seen landscapes, this collection of images documents two decades of Helmut Newton’s love affair with a sun-kissed world.
Helmut Newton was in his 60s and a well-established photographer when he and his wife moved to the Riviera. At an age when many people would consider beginning retirement, Newton instead plunged headfirst into one of the most prolific and liberating stages of his career. The city of Monaco was the perfect backdrop for his fashion photography, and it also provided him with a wealth of subjects for his famous portraits, including the stars of the Ballet de Monte-Carlo and the Princely Family. And it was in Monaco that Newton finally tried his hand at landscapes. While this volume focuses primarily on the years of 1981–2004, it also looks at Newton’s historic links with the Côte d’Azur and the area around Bordighera, Italy. There are essays by a range of experts in the field of photography, film, and art and three interviews, including one with Paloma Picasso. In these remarkable photographs readers will discover the Riviera through Newton’s fascinated, slightly ironic lens: a way of life characterized by ease and elegance, a world dominated by appearance and superficiality, and a veritable living theatre in which he was both actor and privileged member of the audience.
Additional text
»Der trend-Traveller konnte mit dem Blättern nicht aufhören.«
Report
»(...) ästhetisch und auch in dokumentarischer Hinsicht herausstechend (...)« mare
