But in December 1938, at 18, he was forced to flee the Nazis, shortly after Kristalnacht. Born into a wealthy Jewish family in Berlin in 1920, he bought his first camera at 12, he wrote in his autobiography, ''Helmut Newton,'' published in the United States last year by Random House.Īs a teenager, he was apprenticed to the German theatrical photographer Yva, who was also fond of the naked female form. Newton's career and taste for adventure simply reflected a life spiced by high drama. In 1998, an ad for Wolford women's hosiery - featuring a model wearing only stockings and lying face down - was removed from a Times Square billboard after being deemed too explicit. ''He would take that girl and put her in some wicked or naughty situation, kissing another woman or in handcuffs.''īut his work was also associated with photographers like Guy Bourdin and Deborah Turbeville, and sometimes drew the ire of groups that felt his depictions of women could be demeaning and exploitative. ''Helmut was very clear that he liked a big girl and blond girl, in an impeccable suit and high heels,'' said Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue. Newton often preferred strapping, lesser-known models. Unlike those contemporaries, who focused mainly on celebrities, Mr.
Newton moved fashion photography from a staid reflection of the current year's styles to a more artful, glamorous presentation of mood and story. His work was also closely associated with top designers, like Yves Saint Laurent, whose penchant for tight, wide-shouldered suits and long-legged models suited him.Īlong with the photographers Herb Ritts, Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, Mr. Models were depicted in ways that few readers expected: in orthopedic corsets, or in wheelchairs, or on all fours wearing a dog collar. Bondage, sadomasochism, voyuerism, murder, pornography, prostitution: each was exploited and explored in his photos over the years. His images, often in stark black and white, were calculated to shock, featuring tall, blond, sometimes naked women in heels, perhaps illuminated by headlights or trapped in a dark alley. He photographed some of the most beautiful women in the world in poses that emphasized their sexuality, often with an accompanying sense of danger and violence.
Newton reflected the sexual revolution of the 1960's and 70's, which coincided with his rise to fame. Guided by a passion for the strength and allure of the female form and an unquenchable taste for the risqué, Mr. He died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the agency reported. Newton lost control of his Cadillac as he left the Chateau Marmont Hotel, and crashed into a wall across the street. The Los Angeles police told The Associated Press that Mr. Helmut Newton, the prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications, died yesterday after a car crash in Hollywood.
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