The signs on the street list these two things separately:…read more
* The Museum of Photography and
* The Helmut Newton Museum
Follow the signs however, and you'll wind up in the exact same place. They are one and the same and, between the two, The Helmut Newton Museum is the better descriptor.
Helmut Newton (RIP) was born in Berlin and left the country at age 18. When he died, a portion of his estate was given over to the creation of this museum.
By his own description, Helmut Newton was a hired gun photographer. He was not an art photographer though his fashion and celebrity portraits were most certainly artistic. He was most known for highly sexualized portraits of amazonian models and celebrities in various states of undress and often with a bondage-theme. His portraits are immediately recognizable; what he did he did incredibly well.
This museum trades almost exclusively in everything Helmut with seemingly little too silly to display. A replica of his office was probably cutting edge at one time but now it looks dusty and dated. Mannequins, wearing the clothes he wore at various events and shoots, are silly. All of his cameras? Yawn. And the work for which he is not known (collages, landscapes) ought not even be on display; it's not representative of his best work nor is it notable.
The Helmut Newton Museum misses an opportunity to become an actual photography museum by focusing so exclusively on the work of Helmut Newton. Though there are things here worth seeing I had the impression that, were I to return, I'd be seeing mostly the same things. For this reason, it seems worth seeing once, either to familiarize one's self with the work of Helmut Newton or to enjoy it again and see some additional things worthy of your time.
* For those not familiar with Helmut Newton, focus on the photos of fashion models and celebrities, most taken for publications like Vogue and Vanity Fair. This was his bread and butter and the work for which he became famous.
* Also worth seeing: a) a jumpy film featuring Mr. Newton discussing how he likes his fashion models to pose (arms away from the body) and b) the large crop of condolence letters sent from the fashion elite to Helmut's widow upon his death
* Lots of provocative photos of fully naked or partially naked women. The Helmut Newton Museum is not a place for prudes.