Helmut Newton. White Women / Sleepless Nights / Big Nudes

Exhibited for the first time in Venice, at Casa dei Tre Oci, more than 200 photographs from the first three legendary volumes published by Helmut Newton, one of the most important photographers of the 20th century.

In White Women (1976) Newton introduced the nude and eroticism in fashion photography for the first time. Perched between art and fashion, the shots are of mostly female nudes through which contemporary fashion is presented.

Sleepless Nights (1978) also concentrates on the female, though the images gradually shift from fashion photographs into portraits, and from portraits almost into reportage. This second volume has more of a retrospective feel to it, gathering in one single publication the work that Newton produced for several different publications. This defined his style once and for all, turning him into a fashion photography icon.

Big Nudes (1981) features models portrayed outside the studio, in the street, often in sensual poses suggesting that he may well have been using fashion photography as a mere pretext for producing something far more personal.

Helmut Newton (1920-2004) was a prolific German-born fashion photographer who revolutionised the field with his provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photographs. His work has been published by major international fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, GQ, Vanity Fair and Marie Claire, and exhibited around the world.