Helmut Newton: photographer and his work

¶ … art of Helmut Newton and state a vision of modern fashion photography through his work and visual influence on the 20th century art. The conception of the female figure as a subject of art has changed through history and evolved according to the demands of society at any specific time or place. From the invention of photography the vision of nude photography has changed following the changes of society, and the fashion woman, the one that characterizes the world of publicity and media, took different shapes and sizes with each decade. From the flunky, fluffy nymphs that were on vogue from the late 1800 until after World War I, evolving into the thin, almost boy-ish model that was the standard image of the 20's, the curvy and voluptuous vamp of the 50's, to the skinny, dominating woman that portrays the second half of the 20th century. The image of woman has changed in the world of photography, and it was probably from the very world of photography that this image has changed in the minds of the people as well. Since fashion photography is the one that states the look that the perfect woman is supposed to have, the establishing of the stereotypes and the image that characterizes each decade.

The female body has always been appreciated as an art subject, even from the very beginning of civilization. The reason, most philosophers and historians consider, is that the female subject contained the magical fascination of maternity and love. The first representations of female nudes go back as far as the prehistorically times, when small clay figures or hand paintings were created by the first humans that inhabited the land in the Neolithic age. Passing from every period of history, ancient Greek art, medieval painting, and even some semi-abstract work of contemporary authors, have represented and focused on the female nude as a root of fascination and esthetic feeling. The harmonious lines and combination of shapes and volumes have captured the attention of the public for many generations.

The female nude has been a subject for arts since the beginning of art itself. The image of the female body has seduced the interest of artists and viewers in every single culture, in every single country and in every single period of history. When photography appeared as the new form of art, the main art of modern a contemporary age, it was only to be expected that it will adopt the female figure as a subject of interest, continuing a very long tradition of representation of beauty, mystery, seduction and erotism.

Fashion photography began as early as the 18th century. Pictures of clothes where printed in magazines, and often hand-colored. The centre of this fashion world was, of, course, Paris, and the pictures that appeared there were shared with other countries, thus establishing themselves as the centre of the fashion world, where the new styles were born and developed. This was not available at the very beginning, since early photography techniques, such as daguerreotypes, that were not suited for mass printing, was all they had available for capturing images.

Fashion photography appeared almost as early as photography itself. As soon as the technique was developed enough to be made in large production and magazines became to be illustrated with photography rather than drawings, the artists and models turned to this new form of communication to penetrate the market with growing interest from the public.

Later, as the techniques developed into easier to copy, photography could be printed in papers and magazines with commercial purposes. It was then that fashion photography became available for the mass public and a new era in fashion began. This happened much later, at the beginning of the 20th century, when the magazines pictures and the new Hollywood craze took over the fashion world and began a fast and furious succession of changing clothes, make-up and hair styles, that would individually characterize each decade, by very short periods of time. The turn of the 20th century, usually called the Edwardian era, had a clear inclination to the beauty and esthetics. This period was characterized by the seeking of pleasing images in everything, intending to create a glamorous elegant atmosphere. From the images we have from this period the general impression is that high class society was on vogue, even if it was, as much as any other time, a much selected group and had limited access. La belle epoque, as they called it, was a time of beauty and fashion from every point-of-view.

It was a new era beginning for women and the way they were seen and fit into society. The late 19th century established a new vision with the introduction of modern beauty techniques that were to change the female image. Beauty salons became popular and accepted, after they had been rejected during prior eras. It would take a long time for women to openly accept their pursuit for beauty, after many centuries of advertising beauty as a gift of nature. Even at the beginning of the 20th century many women were still ashamed of being seen in public at the cosmetic parlor, and those of rich society still attended beauty treatments in secret.

But the war changed the view of society and established new concepts of importance. Clothes became more practical and easy to wear, demanding less time for dressing up and arranging them. Accessories were also changed and many were gradually eliminated. The 19th century concept of a girl never been seen in public without a fan in her hand, gloves and jewelry slowly disappeared and was replaced by a new age of commodity. Photography brought the new attraction of the century: the movies, the future vehicle in which fashion and social tendencies were to travel from that moment.

Paris was the world capital of the fashion and it was there that many new styles were born and adopted by the masses. With the invention of photography in the 19th century, fashion had taken a new direction. Every new discovery by the fashion world could now be recorded and shared all over the world. Publicity became the new language in which fashion expressed itself and magazines took more power than ever in the eager minds of people, starving for beauty and glamour after a war period that had devastated the beauty and sensuality of their lives.

Nude photography and fashion photography are not entirely separated and not entirely related. Fashion refers mainly to the world of clothing, but not completely or exclusively. Fashion refers to the whole overall look that people achieve in order to be according with their time and society. Even nude photography is highly related to fashion, since it presents an image of the actual woman and the style she adopts.

If we compare a nude picture from the beginning of the century to one on the latest decades, even if they are both nude, there can be stated clear differences of fashion. Not only on the hair and make-up style, but even in the pose, arrangement, and model herself. The body is different, which shows the preference for one specific kind of physique, that expresses the way of thinking of each different period. Their attitude towards the camera reflects the vision of the artists towards women and their role in society. The freedom of nudity is always combined with many other elements that let the spectators know what kind of person she is and the kind of world she lives in.

A few artists that developed and explored the art of female nude and fashion photography were Baron de Meyer (1868-1946), Edward Jean Steichen (1879-1973), George Hoyningen-Huene (1900-1968), Horst P. Horst (born 1906, lives in New York), Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), and they stated the influencing style for future works and artists.

The use of contrast and gray tones to emphasize the picture of the model are the most notorious element in this kind of photography. Light grey was the most used, leaving dark tones only around the model's face, arms and lap. The background displays glittering tones from reflecting materials such as jewels. The pose is natural, and the elements used are arranged in vertical patterns to create a feeling of formality to the image.

The modernist style mixed with a classical vision in its arrangement, sometimes reflecting a bit of influence from the local arts into photography and the perception of images and esthetics. We can see in some pieces the influence of constructivist art, in the use of rectangular shapes. The contrast between the model and the background is the key to the image. The head and shoulders stand out while the lighting given evens the tone, accentuating the flesh to contrast even more with the strong hued background. The use of props and elements in the background was usually simple and minimalist.

The background had the role of emphasizing the figure, not take the attention from it.

It was paid special attention to the position of the hands. Photography was as carefully elaborated as painting, and the artists took long time to determine the proper angle, pose, lighting and arrangement of the scene. The contrast between the gray shades was vital and everything had to be set especially to favor the model, make her stand out and capture the viewer's eye, without distracting their attention or stealing their interest.

All sort of props were used, from flowers, curtains, chairs and furniture, statues and other objects that would accentuate the beauty of the character. The use of reflecting materials and mirrors was also popular, to give a surreal effect. Sometimes they took inspiration from classical forms of art, such as the baroque painting, and used a very dark background, with a single light source, to create a very dramatic effect of volume and the contrast between lines and shapes.

The models often used statue poses, sometimes too static, although they intended to look relaxed and natural. The use of props accentuated an atmosphere of glamour and erotism, showing the woman surrounded by luxurious elements: furs, silks, velvet and feathers; images that accentuated the sense of touch. Those early pictures were not intended as portraits. The model is often no centered on the picture, sometimes too low, sometimes to one side, leaving space to the background composition. The over-retouching of those pictures offered an image of impossible beauty.

Nude photography represented the same interests that nude painting, drawing and sculpture had followed though the centuries. They present the woman as a source of natural beauty, a marvelous work of nature. They present the female body in graceful soft lines, contrasting, often, with a harsh geometric background, that accentuates the curvy lines and gives more meaning to the personality the model is reflecting. A sense of innocence, natural feelings and erotic touches characterizes nude photography even from its early days.

The pursuit to portray the female body as an image of beauty, the seek for the stereotype of the living goddess, the perfect figure, stated a very specific type to be photographed and presented to the media. Those usually focused on the young woman, of healthy appearance, correctly proportioned features and limbs. The image is presented in comfortable positions, sometimes relaxed, sometimes more static. She rarely appears shy or embarrassed, but accepting her nudity as a natural state and inviting the viewer to watch her.

The realities of her true nature were overlooked. In photographs the model was never deformed or overweight, never presented scars or other imperfections. They set the image for a woman that should be, the ideal everybody was looking for.

It has been said that art has deformed the conception of beauty through the centuries always presenting fantasy characters rarely to be found in nature. This varies from period to period. We can all remember the renaissance age, when Michelangelo's nude female characters were masculinized with massive muscles and broad complexions that hardly suited the nature of the characters. Followed by the extremely slim waists that went on fashion in the modern era, when corsets imposed themselves to force a tiny waist and straight back, impossible to achieve by natural looks.

Since photography was a form of art accessible to the masses, it had the power to impose a new vision on the minds of the audience. Whatever photography portrayed was to be seen by thousands of people, and the artist had more power than ever before to share his point-of-view and influence the taste of the public.

Helmut Newton was one important character in the 20th century fashion photography. The biographic data reveal that he was born in Berlin, on October 31, 1920, within a middle class family of Jewish root. After leaving college in 1936, he became an apprentice at a studio belonging to Yva, a Jewish photographer that was to be executed many years after in a German camp.

Newton himself stated that the Nazi Jews conflicts that he witnessed from his window quite often would influence his later photographic work. However Newton's imagination was also influenced by Hitchcock's and Stroheim's films, images by Erich Salomon and Brassan, from whom he learned to handle the night scenes and atmosphere of the city.

Because of the violent persecutions happening in Germany during Hitler's period, Newton refuged in Singapore, where he made a living working for the local press. In the decade of the 40's he managed to establish in Australia, where he would open a studio in Melbourne. It was during that period that he was married to June Browne, who was also to work in photography. After a brief stay in England, the couple moved to Paris in 1957, where Newton would begin to publish his first commercial work in prestigious magazines such as Vogue, Stern, Queen and Marie Claire. Those helped him establish his name in the local territory of publicity and fashion.

In 1971 Helmut Newton suffered a heart attack that was to transform the meaning of his production. From that time his work acquired the peculiar style that characterizes it. It shows an intriguing mysterious world, based on harsh suggestive images, and propagandized, almost exclusively by the woman. The image offered is far from being soft and loving.

On the contrary, what Newton presents is a distant female, possessing ravishing strength, ignoring weakness. It is a characteristic type of woman that we find in his work, apparently responding to the wish to showcase a steady figure, presented in different variations, perhaps representing the ideal of beauty in the role of the tamer, that can the same manage animals and men.

As women achieved more power and importance in society, their beauty became a weapon more than ever before. The image of the strong controlling woman, leading the office became a standard concept of the modern female.

In the second half of the 20th century, with the expansion of feminism and women achieving more professional power, the image of the dominating female boss that used her clever seduction skills to climb the ladder of success became a modern legend, portrayed and displayed in many sides of media and art world. The use of her beauty mixed with her brain and endless courage to unwind in the dominating male world where she was seen as a beauty object became a theme for many fashion designers, authors and artists.

At this point we have to establish the difference between pornography and erotic photography. Nude photography is almost always considered erotic. The representation of the female body in its natural state, even in the most modest and naive of poses, will always content some sense of erotism in it, for the very fact that nudity is still, even today, a taboo subject, and widely associated with sex. The paradox between modest poses and the nude nature of the model perhaps accentuates the sexual meaning of the picture, as it is associated with innocence and, perhaps, virginity.

However those photos are not openly erotic, as they do not always portray the female body in inviting or suggestive positions. Often the model seems to be completely unaware of the presence of the spectator, or the photographer, absorbed in her own activities, her attention distracted. She may be engaged in different events as well, most of them contradicting her nudity with the reality of everyday life. We know a woman will not sit nude at the table to drink her morning coffee, for instance. And yet, there is a sense of logic in this claim of intimacy, the freedom of having her way, in the loneliness of her own home, where she is the mistress and there are no impositions or conventions to stop her from feeling comfortable and at ease.

To say that nude pictures belong to pornography, then those should clearly represent the act, intention or desire for the sexual activity. Even if sometimes a photograph can be interpreted as sensual, reading subdued details that may bring such to the mind (she caresses a cigarette, holding it close to her slightly parted lips, smiling in an ecstasy of pleasure), such discreet associations depend more on the mind of the viewer than the actual composition of the image.

Nude images are intended more to arise esthetic feelings than sexual desire. Many argue these statements, claiming that the main goal for both is one and the same, as it is impossible for a man to see a nude woman without having sexual ideas. Artists claim that, in that case, men will have those thoughts no matter how the model is presented, nude or covered, with the difference that the woman can be either seen or imagined. In the end the line between nude art and pornographic work is limited by personal opinions and points-of-view. Mostly it is society itself the one that will state how far art is allowed to go to be still considered art, and how close we draw the line to perversion. Those different opinions vary to state where esthetic and erotic feelings separate from one another, and if it is impossible for them to work together. The opinion on how much commercial the image has to be considered on one side or the other. The thin line between good and bad taste and between modest and voluptuous. Those concepts vary according to the time and period and specific situations. Today any of the nude pictures that where considered highly indecent back in the 1900's would be seen as very naive. It could be stated that the difference between artistic nude and pornographic work is dictated by the level of tolerance of sex in the society.

At the beginning of photography nudes became very popular. At around 1860 In France they became a fashion and postcards portraying nude women had great demand in the market. "Nudes were marketed in a monthly magazine called the "La Beaute" that targeted artists looking for poses. Each issue contained 75 nude images which could be ordered by mail, in the form of postcards, hand-tinted or sepia toned. Street dealers, tobacco shops, and a variety of other vendors bought the photographs for resale to American tourists."