Surrealism in Photography: Newton, Bourdin & Cartier-Bresson

Introduction: Surrealism and the Transformation of Photography

Photography has been accorded a significant place in art theory and history, particularly with respect to the twentieth-century development of the avant-garde. One of the major factors that has played a crucial role in the history and development of photography is surrealism. Surrealism in photography has come a long way since the 1920s, when photographers began transforming their work from illustrations of the real world into something unreal and bizarre. Throughout the history of photography, surrealist photographers have developed concepts and bodies of work that seek to transmit the world beyond the real into something bizarre and unusual.

The 1960s were marked by the distinctive presences of Helmut Newton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Guy Bourdin. These surrealist photographers coincided historically, and despite their individual styles, the three of them unintentionally transformed photography through surrealism. They transcended the "conventional" photography of the time through their unique ways of manipulating the medium, and their individual approaches enlarged the public's sense of what photography could do. This paper asks: how is their work a realization of surrealism in photography?

Surrealism in photography was characterized by photographers' attempts to challenge notions of reality, creating images that transformed the real world into something unreal and bizarre. Surrealist photography was therefore hostile to the early, more documentary forms of the medium. For many photographers, surrealism provided a significant avenue for transforming their work and challenging existing norms and viewpoints.

Surrealism took center stage in photography in the post-war 1950s, particularly in fashion photography. The gradual shift contributed to greater gender experimentation and the use of color to create mood and excitement by the 1960s and 1970s. This transformation is reflected in the styles and works of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin. Since then, the tradition of surrealist photography has not only flourished but has also significantly influenced contemporary photography.

Helmut Newton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Guy Bourdin are widely regarded as the godfathers of fashion photography. They utilized peculiar styles and coincided historically to unintentionally transform the medium through surrealism. Through their unique ways of manipulating photography, these three figures transcended the conventions of their era in a manner that enlarged public perception of what photography could achieve. Newton's and Bourdin's work reflected surrealism by transforming the meaning and function of fashion photography — and, for some of them, elevating this previously utilitarian work into an art form. Newton utilized a style of brutal realism, pushing the limits of sexuality as far as he could. Bourdin also utilized provocative imagery, fusing violence, sex, and innocence in surrealistic ways.

Helmut Newton: Sexuality, Power, and the Surrealist Gaze

Unlike the photographers of his time, Newton's style was provocative and dangerous. Newton was a German "high fashion photographer whose subversive approach to subject matter and form brought an edge to his editorial spreads," embedding a transgressive sensibility into the mainstream world of fashion photography. The influences of Helmut Newton's work are still in evidence today. Newton used taboo subjects in provocative ways — something that would have seemed highly unconventional in the 1960s and 1970s, when he worked. Interested in presenting sexuality in new ways and fusing sex with fashion, Newton's work also carries a distinctly surrealist edge.

For example, in one characteristic image, a woman flexes her bicep in a classically male pose. Her breasts are bare, with rope wrapped tightly around and across her torso. She wears long black gloves, signifying sexual power. Along with the rope, the gloves invoke bondage and fetish. It is a surreal image in that it upsets traditional depictions of women as tender, soft, and subservient. She appears like a Greek god or a male figure of power, and yet she is fully female — not androgynous or asexual in the least, but actively reclaiming her power as a woman, refusing to allow the male gaze to alter her self-image or how the audience will view her. Male and female are thus juxtaposed in surreal ways; Newton makes a strong statement about gender roles, norms, and power.

Surrealism and sexuality are used together in most of Newton's imagery. In another image, Newton uses a mirror to achieve a surrealist effect. The viewer cannot determine whether the form reflected in the mirror is a reflection or a separately framed photograph. The nude, whose back is toward the viewer, becomes the voyeur. Newton transposes the male gaze onto the female figure, placing her in control of how she is depicted and how her sexuality is framed. There appears also to be a couple embracing in the background, watched by the woman. The many layers of sexuality, gender, and voyeurism are hallmarks of Newton's provocative surrealist style. Similarly, another woman dangles a phallic symbol from her lip: the cigarette. Surrealists drew heavily from psychoanalytic theories of the mind and the subconscious — the repository of dreams, desires, and sexual urges — and this image speaks directly to the Freudian concept of oral fixation.

In a further image (from Charmoy), a nude female stands with her back to the viewer at the edge of a pool, a traditional symbol of the unconscious mind. A director's chair is placed to her right, facing the viewer — incongruous and out of place, yet symbolizing the empowerment of the female as the director of the scene. As with other Newton images, the female assumes authorial control. Newton consciously removes the male gaze.

Newton's work reflected surrealism through portraying the underlying tensions embedded in the myths, images, and fantasies of sexuality. His signature style was a unique combination of sex and theater. He often took explicit photographs that challenged existing beliefs regarding sexuality. Consequently, Newton was accused of being regressive and exploitative in his eroticization of women. His determination to push the limits of sexuality is seen in nearly all of his work in fashion photography — for example, his images for American Vogue's "Story of Ohh," which depicted open, forceful lust, featuring a man, two women, and a dog. Newton's work reflected surrealism through exhibiting explicitly sexualized images of nude and semi-nude women that shocked the viewer and opened a window onto an unusual world.

Conclusion: The Surrealist Legacy in Photography

Photography is a field that has continued to develop over the years, shaped by various influences. One of the most significant of these is surrealism, which focuses on transforming the real world into an unusual one. Surrealism in photography can be traced back to the 1920s, when photographers introduced concepts that challenged people's views on the medium. The works of Newton, Bourdin, and Cartier-Bresson represent a realization of surrealism in photography: they were provocative and challenged people's views on fashion, gender, violence, and everyday life. Fashion photography was liberated from its materialism and its determinism. In what is inherently an act of voyeurism, the fashion photograph could now be self-conscious in the hands of artists like Newton and Bourdin.

Cartier-Bresson added the all-important dimension of place and setting, interjecting abstraction, angles, and chiaroscuro. His emphasis on "the decisive moment" raised everyday events to monumental levels — a technique that is still used in fashion photography, which now aims to capture the model in a decisive, unguarded moment rather than a preconceived pose. Newton and Bourdin reflected surrealism through utilizing brutal realism to take creative, provocative photographs that stimulated debates about feminism and sexuality. Together, these three photographers enlarged the public's sense of what photography can do, leaving a surrealist legacy that continues to shape the medium today.

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