Dolph Lundren, Grace Jones…photo by Helmut Newton
“HELMUT NEWTON: THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL” My rating: B
93 minutes | No MPAA rating
As with few other photographers (Ansel Adams and Robert Mapplethorpe immediately come to mind) the late Helmut Newton’s images cannot be mistaken for those of any other artist.
Newton (1920-2004) worked in fashion and his most regular employer was Vogue magazine. But even when his stated assignment was to capture on film some item of apparel he still managed to work his sexual preoccupations and perverse sense of humor into the equation.
Though he frequently photographed the famous (Margaret Thatcher, David Bowie), Newton’s main fame rests on his nudes. Though they’ve been classified as erotica, many find them anything but enticing.
No come-hither looks. No languid poses.
Newton’s women usually present themselves to us in-yer-face naked from top to high-heeled bottom, appproaching the camera defiantly and largely indifferent to the viewer’s gaze. This is the nude body as chilly, intimidating bulwark.
Elements of sado-masochism are not uncommon.
Some critics (Susan Sontag, famously) found his work essentially misogynistic; others, including many of the young women who were his models, regard their time with Newton as empowering.
Getting to the root of that conundrum is the underlying thread of “Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful” by documentarian Gero von Boehm, whose six-part “A Brief History of the World” is one of the highest rated documentaries ever on German television.
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