HELMUT NEWTON (1920-2004)

‘Ever since I was a young boy I’ve always been fascinated by hotels and hotel rooms. I used to travel with my Parents through many of the big hotels in Europe…. Villa d’Este – the hotel in which these photos were taken – is a place with the most sensuous surroundings and fascinating history.’ Helmut Newton

Le shooting à la Villa d'Este de Newton, commandé par le magazine Réalités (juin 1975), est un peu un jeu du chat et de la souris, Newton prenant subrepticement des images plus ouvertement érotiques pour son propre livre, dont cette image devient la couverture, aux côtés d'images destinées à être publiées dans le magazine. Il décrit ce shooting comme étant à l’origine de sa célèbre série 'Naked and Dressed'.

Newton’s Villa d’Este shoot, commissioned by the magazine Réalités (June 1975) became a cat-and-mouse game, with Newton surreptitiously taking more overtly erotic images for his planned first book, for which the present image became the cover alongside the images destined for publication in the magazine. He has described this shoot as the origin of the concept of his celebrated ‘Naked and Dressed’ series.