TASCHEN, Helmut Newton

Reissue of Newton's 1999 SUMO book in half the size with silver stand included.

• Helmut Newton (German).
• Edited by June Newton (Australian).
• Köln: Taschen, 2023.
• 464 pages.
• Hardcover.
• Limited edition of 10,000.
• Includes a stainless-steel bookstand designed by Philippe Starck (French).

Enduring the turbulent mid-20th century, Helmut Newton rose to become one of the most sought-after photographers in his five-decade-long career, creating iconic and provocative images. 

Born in Berlin in 1920, Newton was drawn to photography at the age of 12, apprenticing under the photographer Yva. When his family fled Nazi Germany in 1938, Newton brought two cameras which allowed him to work in Singapore as a photographer. After internment by British authorities sent him to a camp in Australia, he joined the army to fight in WWII and became a British citizen, changing his name from Neustädter to Newton. 

Newton founded his business in Melbourne and married June Browne (who later became a successful photographer using the pseudonym Alice Springs). Commissioned to illustrate fashion for an Australian supplement of Vogue, Newton won ongoing work for the famed magazine, leading him throughout Europe. Influenced by Alfred Hitchcock and French New Wave, he developed a distinctive cinematic style. His themes of erotica, confrontational nudes and S&M earned him notoriety while cementing his place in photography’s history. In 2003, Newton and his wife established the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin, a cultural mecca that preserves his legacy with ongoing talks and exhibits.