Looming large over Paris, arguably as imposing as when they used to gaze from the pages of French Vogue, the women of Helmut Newton (1920 – 2004) adorn a huge banner covering Le Grand Palais where the first retrospective of Newton’s work in France is being held since his death.
Bringing together over two hundred photos, Newton’s oeuvre is key to understanding today’s fashion iconography. Including prints and polaroids made by or under the supervision of Newton himself (the retrospective was made with the participation of his wife and collaborator of sixty years, June Newton), audiences can track how the German photographer emerged from the fifties then developed and fired a blaze across the eighties where his gargantuan women, powerful and unapologetic, grasped the zeitgeist of the day. Women’s fashion not only became more globalised in the eighties but women themselves were taking control of their own lives, particularly in urban metropoles where Newton often placed his subjects, pitching the curves and angles of their bodies against architecture. Power, money, beauty and sex were his stock in trade, bold messages both then and now. Another theme was freedom, not flower power freedom from the sixties but one that was gained by conquering the rules of capitalism that powered so much in fashion during his day. As realism and minimalism took centre stage in the 90s, homage to Newton’s vision returned in the 00′s, often via Carine Roitfeld during her tenure as editor of French Vogue. Where are we going next? Perhaps Newton knows….
Helmut Newton at Le Grand Palais runs until June 21st 2012.
Text: Sarah Hay
All images © Helmut Newton Estate. Image titles from left: Bergstrom, au-dessus de Paris, Paris, 1976./ British Vogue, Londres, 1967./ Yves Saint Laurent, Vogue France, Rue Aubriot, Paris 1975./ Bergstrom, au-dessus de Paris, Paris, 1976./ Elle, Paris, 1969./ Sie Kommen (Elles arrivent), Vogue France, Paris, 1981.
