Autobiography

Born in Berlin in 1920 to a wealthy Jewish family Helmut Newton was an overprotected child with no interest in school. At the age of twelve he purchased his first camera, beginning a fascination with photography that would eventually propel him to the heights of international celebrity. Barely eighteen when Kristallnacht tore Germany apart, Newton managed to escape the Nazis. However, he never made it as far as his intended destination of China. After indulging in a series of shipboard romances, Newton arrived in Singapore and soon became a gigolo and lover of an older woman.But the world was at war, and talk of interning German Jews became prevalent even on the secrets of Singapore. So Newton decamped once more, ending up in Australia, where he joined the Australian army and served as a private for five years. Subsequently, he opened his first "tiny" photography studio in Melbourne and in 1948 he married his wife, June, a successful actress.In the 1950s Newton moved to Paris, where he continued to astonish clients with his beautiful and provocatively erotic images of women. His controversial White Women, published in 1976, earned him the titles of King of Kink and Prince of Porn. His distinctive visual vocabulary has been widely imitated.