Us and Them by Helmut Newton and Alice Springs

Design by Hanna Koller

About the Authors:

Helmut Newton (1920–2004) was one of the most influential fashion photographers. Born in Berlin, he arrived in Australia in 1940 and married June Brunell (a.k.a. Alice Springs) eight years later. He first achieved international fame in the 1970s while working principally for French Vogue, and his celebrity and influence grew over the decades. Newton preferred to shoot in streets or interiors rather than studios. Controversial scenarios, bold lighting, and striking compositions came to form his signature look. In 1990 he was awarded the Grand Prix National for photography; in 1992, the German government awarded him Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz for services to German culture. In addition, he was appointed Officer des Arts, Lettres et Sciences by S.A.S. Princess Caroline of Monaco. In 1996, he was appointed Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Minister of Culture.

June Newton (1923–2021) was an Australian model, actress, and photographer. As an actress, she was known professionally as June Brunell and won the Erik Kuttner Award for Best Actress in 1956. From 1970 onward, she worked as a photographer under the pseudonym Alice Springs. Her photographs have appeared in publications such as Vanity Fair, Interview, Elle, and Vogue.

Review:

“This arresting collection of photography features work by Helmut Newton and his wife, actress Alice Springs. Newton’s coolly elegant and sexy studies are splendidly counterbalanced by Springs’s warmer and more vulnerable pieces. The book is divided into three sections: two “Us” sections, in which Newton and Springs alternately photograph themselves and each other, and a final “Them” chapter that features subjects photographed differently by each photographer. The cast is a glitzy mix of Riviera-style celebrities. Catherine Deneuve is especially sultry shot by Newton, dressed in a black negligee with a cigarette dangling from her lips just below her bedroom eyes. At the same time, in the facing portrait taken by Springs, her torso is concealed within a black turtleneck, and she stares confidently and directly at the camera. Karl Lagerfeld is here before he went gray, and Gianni Versace is posed not quite languidly naked on a leopard-skin sofa. The self-portraits are revealing and occasionally disturbing. Springs is often in various states of undress in front of mirrors. Newton is most often with naked models, occasionally cross-dressed, and when he is naked, is oddly wired up to various types of medical equipment such as EKG machines. Aside from a very brief introduction by Newton, there is no accompanying text in the book, but this is a book of images, not words, and nearly all these fine photographs are worth at least a thousand.” —Nick Wroe, Amazon.co.uk