The Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin is reviving Polaroid with a selection of works by the master of fashion photography and leading names in contemporary imagery.
This group exhibition brings to light the technical process that revolutionized photography in the 1960s. The Helmut Newton Foundation, in collaboration with EMOP Berlin, presents several works by Helmut Newton (1920-2004). These are alongside works by other icons such as Sheila Metzner (1939-), and contemporary artists, who have frequently used it in landscape, still life, fashion, portrait, and nude photography.
"The archives contain hundreds of original Polaroids, some of which were transferred from the Newton residence in Monte Carlo after the death of his wife June Newton ," explains curator Matthias Harder.
Through all these photographs, he presents in particular the works of South African Charles Johnstone, German Pola Sieverding, Dutch Marike Schuurman, German Thorsten Brinkmann, and Italian Maurizio Galimberti. This vast and eclectic selection thus explores experimental treatments of individual prints and larger canvases.
Sheila Metzner, Michal, Mermaid, 1980, @ Sheila Metzner
The magic of the instant
“People familiar with Polaroid cameras will remember the characteristic smell of the developing emulsion and the pleasure of seeing an image appear instantly. Depending on the camera model, some prints developed autonomously, while others required the manual application of a chemical coating to fix the image ,” the curator recalls fervently.
Today, the Polaroid is considered the predecessor of the analog camera due to the immediacy of its unique prints, foreshadowing the era of digital photography. In his working process, Helmut Newton was of course at the forefront, using various Polaroid cameras and instant film backs as tools for "visual sketches, lighting tests, and composition studies during his fashion shoots."
In 1992, he notably published a book about these images with Taschen, followed by a second volume posthumously in 2011. Enlargements of some of his snapshots, exhibited at the foundation in 2012 by June Newton, also known as Alice Springs as a photographer, are also presented in this exhibition.
Helmut Newton, Cindy Crawford, American Vogue, Monte Carlo 1991, @ Helmut Newton Foundation
"POLAROIDS"
HELMUT NEWTON FOUNDATION – MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY
JEBENSSTRASSE 2, BERLIN (GERMANY)
FROM MARCH 7 TO JULY 25, 2025
