Nudes

Helmut Newton—or the “King of Kink,” as he’s been dubbed—was a maverick in the world of fashion photography. While Newton’s striking photos of sinewy models regularly graced the covers of Vogue, it was his nude photographs that ultimately skyrocketed him to fame, with his “White Women” portfolio in 1976 and his “Big Nudes” portfolio in 1981. “If a photographer says he is not a voyeur, he is an idiot,” Newton once said. Loaded with voyeurism, bondage, violence, masochism, and other naughty posturing, Newton’s photographs have featured nude models cavorting through Mediterranean villas, suspended from the ceiling in leather straps, and kissing one another in handcuffs. In 2017, Newton’s photograph of a disrobed Charlotte Rampling broke the artist’s auction record, reaching over $440,000 at Christie’s.