Sunday Arts Magazine

30 May 2022

Helmut Newton – In Focus

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The Jewish Museum of Australia: Gandel Centre of Judaica, in collaboration with PHOTO 2022 and the
Helmut Newton Foundation, presents HELMUT NEWTON: In Focus, a landmark exhibition of one of
the fashion industry’s most prolific photographers and provocateurs. Tickets are now on sale ahead of the
exhibition’s Friday 29 April opening.
Known for his eyebrow-raising images and voyeuristic worldview, which changed the fashion landscape
forever, HELMUT NEWTON: In Focus will provide a new look at the life and legacy of the man behind the
lens. Celebrating Newton’s extraordinary personal story of reinvention and determination, the expansive
survey will include never-before-seen details of his remarkable upbringing alongside highlights from
Newton’s career as one of the most influential and visionary fashion photographers of all time.
Carefully curated by the Jewish Museum to explore the early years Newton spent working and living in
Melbourne, this is a global story with a uniquely Australian influence. Featuring a fascinating collection of
letters, diary entries and photographs, the flagship exhibition will shine a light on Newton’s Jewish roots and
early days in Berlin before charting his post-war life as an ‘enemy alien’ in regional Victoria and later work in
Melbourne.
Before leaving for Paris in 1961, where his risqué photography saw him dubbed the ‘King of Kink’, Helmut
would first begin to harness his skills in Melbourne. With little money and no connections, Newton opened
a photography studio on the top floor of a building in Melbourne’s Flinders Lane in 1946 and set about
establishing a career as a photographer in fashion, social and theatre circles. The exhibition will also
include insights into Helmut’s relationship with his Australian-born wife, the acclaimed actress, artist, and

photographer June Newton, who he met in Melbourne at this time. Through this period, Newton forged
a lasting bond with Melbourne (and with Australia, more broadly); a chapter of his life the exhibition will
capture like never before.
Over the course of his fifty-year career, Newton would go on to push boundaries and challenge norms
surrounding the depiction of femininity, sexuality and desire in the arts and the media. He photographed
countless high-profile women at the forefront of the world stage, including Grace Jones, Isabella
Rosselini, Claudia Schiffer, and even Margaret Thatcher. Helmut’s photography appeared in leading
international fashion magazines from Vanity Fair to Vogue, with more than sixty covers for Vogue Italia
attributed to Newton.
“We’re so looking forward to sharing HELMUT NEWTON: In Focus with our visitors – a program that will
inspire, challenge and undoubtedly leave an imprint on all who journey with us,” said Jewish Museum
of Australia Director and CEO, Jessica Bram. “Not only will the exhibition showcase Newton’s iconic,
trailblazing, and at times controversial works, it will also, and perhaps more significantly, share details
of the lesser known aspects of Helmut’s Jewish heritage and his formative and ambitious twenty-year
chapter here in Australia.”
With around 200 items on display, from original photographs and magazines – including the first edition
of Australian Vogue (1959) – and a trove of personal artefacts and letters from the Helmut Newton
Foundation, HELMUT NEWTON: In Focus will zoom into the unique story of Newton. The result is a
panoramic picture, never-before-seen, of the personal and historical forces that would go on to shape the
life and career of the visionary photographer.