The inside story of the erotic photos that broke Helmut Newton’s photography worldwide

Photo by Deon Black on Pexels

Though he was born Helmut Neustädter in Berlin back in 1920, by 1976 the world was arguably not fully appreciative of the immense talents of the photographer that millions came to know as Helmut Newton – the purveyor of risqué, erotic fashion images that pushed boundaries and many people’s buttons.

Although he had worked with Vogue in various guises since 1956, arguably the biggest breakthrough in Newton’s career came in 1976 when his first ever book, published under the titles White Women (in the US) and Femmes Secrètes (by its European publisher, Laffont), brought together his portraiture, fashion and iconic erotic work in a tome that was achingly cool, sexy and stimulating.

Pool in a suburban house, Melbourne, 1973. Image: 2026 Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin

This stunning work is now being revisited 50 years later with a fresh version of Femmes Secrètes that stays true to the image selections and sequence of photographs in the original book, but significantly adds to it with new text to tell the story of Newton’s life and how he shots his ‘erotic pictures and portraits mondains (society portraits)’.

Newton’s love of photography dated way back to buying his first ever camera aged 12 and then working alongside the German photographer known as Yva (Elsie Neuländer Simon), who was best known for her dreamlike multiple exposure photographs, from the age of 16.

Rue Aubriot, Paris Collections, 1975. The suit is by Saint Laurent and the hat is by Paulette. Image: 2026 Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin

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