Haute Couture & Hardware Stores

December 2, 2022, saw the inauguration of a new exhibition at Berlin’s Helmut Newton Foundation. The showcase – which bears the title Helmut Newton. Brands and will be on display until May 14, 2023 – encompasses more than 200 images, including numerous unknown works from the photographer’s collaborations with internationally renowned brands such as Swarovski, Yves Saint Laurent, Wolford, Lavazza, or Blumarine.

Newton made no stylistic or compositional distinctions between his magazine projects and his direct brand assignments. He humorously called himself “a gun for hire” – which also became the title for a posthumous exhibition of his commercial photography, presented in 2005 at the Grimaldi-Forum in Monaco and, subsequently, at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin.

This new exhibition picks up where A Gun for Hire left off – showcasing photographs Newton shot mainly in the 1980s and ‘90s for high-end advertising agencies and corporate clients, mostly in and around Monaco. The front three exhibition rooms are dedicated to luxury fashion, with images ranging from the haute couture and prêt-à-porter designs of Yves Saint Laurent, to the photographs featured in Wolford’s exclusive client calendars of 1993 and 1994.

In the main exhibition space, visitors will discover yet more unfamiliar works: images produced for the tobacco brands Philip Morris and Dannemann, the Italian coffee company Lavazza, or the Austrian DIY chain, Bauwelt. Shot during the 1980s and 90s, they are distinguished by an unconventional and highly individual approach – whereby the photographer managed to highlight the respective brand and its products, whilst still imbuing each orchestration with the classic ‘Newton style’.

For further information visit Helmut Newton Foundation