Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful Synopsis

Born into a wealthy Jewish family, Helmut Newton came of age ensconced in the seductive decadence of an 'anything goes' Berlin under the Weimar Republic. His teenaged apprenticeship under commercial photography pioneer Yva - who perished in the Holocaust - coincided with his family's persecution under the rise of the Third Reich and the emergence of the striking aesthetics of infamous Nazi propagandist, filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. He escaped with members of his family in 1938 and met his life partner June while in Australia working as a commercial photographer. The couple eventually settled in Paris where Helmut's gradual evolution beyond the, then, conservative confines of fashion photography coincided with the radical political upheaval of 60s France. Interpreting the most traumatic political and cultural shift in German history, Helmut established his artistic legacy by effectively channeling his past into an erotically charged, highly-subversive portfolio dominated by bold 'Aryan'-esque women in stilettos navigating the shadowy past of Helmut's motherland. Replete with Helmut's arresting imagery, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL features creative accomplices Grace Jones, Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini, Marianne Faithfull, Anna Wintour and widow June Newton as they reflect on Helmut's life and legacy. —Mae Moreno

Born into a wealthy Jewish family, Helmut Newton came of age ensconced in the seductive decadence of an 'anything goes' Berlin under the Weimar Republic. His teenaged apprenticeship under commercial photography pioneer Yva - who perished in the Holocaust - coincided with his family's persecution under the rise of the Third Reich and the emergence of the striking aesthetics of infamous Nazi propagandist, filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. He escaped with members of his family in 1938 and met his life partner June while in Australia working as a commercial photographer. The couple eventually settled in Paris where Helmut's gradual evolution beyond the, then, conservative confines of fashion photography coincided with the radical political upheaval of 60s France. Interpreting the most traumatic political and cultural shift in German history, Helmut established his artistic legacy by effectively channeling his past into an erotically charged, highly-subversive portfolio dominated by bold 'Aryan'-esque women in stilettos navigating the shadowy past of Helmut's motherland. Replete with Helmut's arresting imagery, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL features creative accomplices Grace Jones, Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini, Marianne Faithfull, Anna Wintour and widow June Newton as they reflect on Helmut's life and legacy. —Mae Moreno

December 04, 2020 at 12:26 AM