The Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung in Munich is presenting an unprecedented glimpse into the creative process of legendary photographer Helmut Newton through an exhibition titled "Polaroids." The show features 50 intimate Polaroid snapshots that reveal the behind-the-scenes moments of Newton's iconic fashion photography career, spanning from 1975 until his death in 2003.
The exhibition offers a rare intimate perspective on Newton, the Berlin-born photography legend typically associated with large-format images, iconic fashion shoots, and radical chic aesthetics. The Polaroids are displayed in simple frames and arranged chronologically in a long row in the upper room of the Kunstfoyer, requiring viewers to step very close to examine the approximately four-by-four-inch images in detail.
The chronological arrangement tells the complete story of Newton's career through these instant photographs. The first Polaroid in the series dates from 1975, when Newton was already established as a fashion photographer and had just had his first exhibition while preparing his first photo book. The final Polaroid comes from his last shoot before his death in Monte Carlo in 2003. As Matthias Harder, who heads the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin and curated the Munich exhibition, explains: "The Polaroid camera essentially accompanied everything throughout his career."
Initially, these Polaroids served as practical tools for Newton during fashion shoots. They functioned as visual preliminary studies for the final images he would capture with his single-lens reflex camera on traditional film, helping him check composition and lighting conditions. Newton once revealed his uncertainty about photography in an interview, saying: "Photography is very fragile, you are never sure. People say: It went well. But I say: We'll see that tomorrow when we see the films – who knows!"
The Polaroid format allowed Newton to immediately verify the visual impact of his shots while simultaneously visualizing his creative ideas for the first time before developing them in the final images. Remarkably, nearly every Polaroid already bears Newton's distinctive signature style. Harder observes: "You can see very clearly how much he had already brought things to the point, how much he worked with this timeless elegance, sometimes with exaggerations. There are many stylistic elements in Newton's work that we can discover both in the Polaroid and in the final photography."
The exhibition showcases Newton's trademark elements: his unapproachable women who appear simultaneously exposed, sexualized, and powerful in their poses. His concept of "radical chic" – the interplay between luxury and provocative aesthetics – is evident throughout. The glamour of his models is often contrasted against decaying environments, construction sites, and vacant lots, while expressive poses and high-contrast lighting create an almost cinematic quality in the images.
Harder emphasizes Newton's role as a complete visual storyteller: "He transformed everything into a stage. He built a setting and was, in a sense, director, dramatist, and set designer all in one person. The narrative quality in Newton's photographs creates a special tension. You ask yourself: What has happened? And what will happen in the next moment? There's a certain progressive idea in the single image; it could be a film still, the story could continue. And he compresses that, so to speak, into a single image and packs an incredible amount into it."
One striking example featured in the exhibition shows a woman in black lingerie and stilettos lying motionless on a carpet, presumably eliminated by her competitor, of whom only legs are visible in a triumphant pose. This was created for a 1978 French Vogue assignment titled "In my apartment." The displayed Polaroids appear almost as perfectly composed as his final works, with only occasional blur, handwritten notes, or spots at the edges revealing their status as preliminary studies.
Shortly before his death, Newton admitted that his search for the perfect image never ended: "I have reached a certain level, but I must always continue – I search, continue to fight in photography." The exhibition reveals that these Polaroids were ultimately more than just spontaneous tools. The intimacy created by viewing these small-format images takes on a completely different dimension through the summer private shots of Newton and his wife June – imperfect, authentic, and filled with carefree lightness.
The main space of the Kunstfoyer displays enlargements of the Polaroids in 20-by-24-inch format, allowing visitors to appreciate the details and composition more fully. Evidence that Polaroids became more than mere tools for Newton can be found in photographs that make the Polaroid medium itself the subject, such as an image of a ballerina from the Ballets de Monte-Carlo leaning forward in a dancer's pose, contemplating scattered Polaroid photographs on the floor.
In 1992, Newton published a book dedicated exclusively to his Polaroid photographs, providing compelling evidence for recognizing them as independent works of art. The Munich exhibition validates this artistic status by presenting these intimate snapshots as complete creative expressions rather than mere preliminary studies. "Helmut Newton. Polaroids" runs until February 22 at the Kunstfoyer of the Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung in Munich, offering visitors a unique opportunity to witness the creative process of one of fashion photography's most influential figures.
