On 31 October 2020 Helmut Newton would have been 100 years old. His foundation was established in Berlin-Charlottenburg in the fall of 2003, and then opened in the summer of 2004; since then it has presented more than 50 exhibitions. Now, the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin is taking this special anniversary as an occasion to celebrate the exceptional photographer – for the first time by presenting his legendary, timeless, and innovative work in a large public outdoor exhibition in Berlin. Helmut Newton was born in 1920, the son of a Jewish button manufacturer in Berlin-Schöneberg. From 1936 to 1938 he trained as a photographer under the renowned fashion photographer, Yva; his first self-portraits were created in her studio in Schlüterstrasse. But soon thereafter, Newton had to flee Berlin. One of the last buildings he saw as his train left Zoo Station for Trieste was the military casino on Jebensstrasse. 65 years later, this building became home to his foundation and archives, where the work of Helmut and his wife June (a.k.a. Alice Springs), is presented in regularly changing exhibitions. Despite the tragic circumstances under which Newton left Berlin, the city remained close to his heart. He often returned to his hometown to take pictures on behalf of various magazines. For the second issue of German Vogue in 1979, for example, he created a photographic homage to the places of his youth in Berlin. In memory of Newton’s time in Berlin and his exceptional work, the Helmut Newton Foundation will present a large outdoor exhibition along the 85-meter-long wall at Kraftwerk Berlin on Köpenicker Strasse 70, in the Kreuzberg district. On view from 26 October to November 2020, the exhibition will be publicly accessible 24/7. Some 30 images from all of Newton’s creative periods have been selected for this temporary show, HELMUT NEWTON ONE HUNDRED. Additionally, 250 City Light posters depicting Newton’s work will be on display during this time throughout Berlin, with the generous support of WALL. Never before has Newton’s work been seen in this way.

Following the completion of an elaborate extension and renovation work in 2019/2020, the renowned exhibition space CHAUSSEE 36 in the heart of Berlin-Mitte will re-launch with two top-class exhibitions – which could not be more different. The group exhibition Behind Desire takes a critical look at the notion of eroticism shaped by patriarchy. Thematically, it follows the spring 2019 exhibition, Women on View – Aesthetics of Desire in Advertising, in which CHAUSSEE 36 critically examined the eroticization of women’s bodies in advertising. Behind Desire marks the start of the exhibition series EROS & PHOTOGRAPHY and introduces the multifaceted, complex, and powerful implications of eroticism. The exhibition not only aims to foster a comprehensive understanding of eroticism through an aesthetic investigation of the topic, but also to enable visitors to confront their own Eros, looking beyond gender and sexual orientation. In a world in which sex is available with a swipe of a finger and pornography has become omnipresent – what is the significance of eroticism? The group exhibition Behind Desire – with works by Nobuyoshi Araki, Gilles Berquet, Lucien Clergue, Mona Kuhn, Daidō Moriyama, Herb Ritts, Jeanloup Sieff, Evangeline, Eva Ionesco, and Ellen von Unwerth, as well as De Gambs, Thomas Hodges, and Gérard Musy, among others – introduces the various facets of eroticism and examines the mechanisms of desire in fine art photography. For the first time, works will be shown from the Collection de Gambs, which specializes in nudes and erotic photography...