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ShareMumbai: Helmut Newton's iconic images have always had the power to provoke -- for their dark, risqué imagery or blatant sexuality. The (late) master photographer who rose to dizzying heights of stardom with his fashion and celebrity portraits for magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair and numerous 'artistic' tomes, has often been called the 'king of kink' and 'prince of porn'.
But Newton's fascinating journey to the top has rarely been known.
Born into a wealthy family in Berlin in 1920, Newton began his love affair with the camera at 12. The first part of the book charts his childhood, escape from the Nazis, brief stint as a gigolo in Singapore, before decamping to Australia where he served in the army. In 1948, he married June, an actress, who served as his eternal springboard for ideas. "I would shake the ideas out of her until she came up with something I could sink my teeth into," Newton writes.
Thereafter, we witness the highs and lows of glamourdom. Like his interactions with Diana Vreeland -- the impossible-to-please editor of American Vogue of whom he writes, "Mrs Vreeland's vision was one of fantasia, Moroccan extravaganzas, rouged heels -- yes! -- and dreams of exotica. Mine was of a highly sexual woman...I spent miserable days in the New York studios trying to satisfy Mrs Vreeland's every wish." This is followed by his move to Monte Carlo where he battled depression.
The second half of the book is what's bound to captivate Newtonophiles: A smattering of anecdotes from his famed stints -- with Jacques Chirac, Liz Taylor, Margaret Thatcher, Dali; his "big" and "domestic" nudes; flirtation with porn; and his love for shooting at night. "Everything becomes more mysterious, and all the ugliness is hidden," he explained. Quite apt for the fashion world, indeed!
Title: Helmut Newton: Autobiography
Price: Rs595
Published by: Doubleday
Rating: *****
