"I have always avoided photographing in the studio. A woman does not spend her life sitting or standing in front of a seamless white paper background. Although it makes my life more complicated, I prefer to take my camera out into the street... and places that are out of bounds for photographers have always had a special attraction for me."
--Helmut Newton

   

"My immediate surroundings are always more mysterious and exiting to me than exotic islands and far away places. I like photographing places and objects I see every day. My favorite photos are often those which evoke a strong feeling of I have been here before".
--Helmut Newton

 
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"Some people's photography is an art. Not mine. Art is a dirty word in photography. All this fine art crap is killing it already. "
--Helmut Newton
 

"The desire to discover, the desire to move, to capture the flavor, three concepts that describe the art of photography."
--Helmut Newton
 

"Technically, I have not changed very much. Ask my assistants. They'll tell you, I am the easiest photographer to work with. I don't have heavy equipment. I work out of one bag."
--Helmut Newton
 

"Any photographer who says he's not a voyeur is either stupid or a liar."
--Helmut Newton
 

Helmut Newton in the restaurant. The cook: "I like your photos, you surely have a good camera."
Newton after eating: "The food was excellent - you surely have good pots."
(a little anecdote)
 

 

Some interesting things about Helmut Newton:

  • Helmut Newton wasn't his birth name.
    After his discharge from the army in 1946, Helmut changed his last name from Neustaedter to Newton because his birth name didn't fit the new person he felt he had become.
     

  • The only male nude he ever shot was an actor also named Helmut.
     

  • His first camera was an Agfa Tengor Box.
    Newton bought the camera himself in 1932 at age 12. Out of the eight shots on his first roll of film, seven were blanks. One, however, was so good that it "launched on a great career as a photographer," according to his autobiography.
     

  • He was once a champion swimmer.
    A member of the Berliner Schwimm-Club, Newton received a Death Skull Certificate for swimming three hours straight.
     

  • Margaret Thatcher was the only woman that scared him.
    Newton took a portrait of the "Iron Lady" whom he said got sexier as her power and influence grew. She did not hesitate to tell him that she disliked the portrait, which hung in the National Portrait Gallery.