Among today's viewers with little or no interest in the art of photography it would be hard to find anyone who knows nothing about the works of Helmut Newton. His photographs with erotic contexts or his nudes works attract the attention of both supporters and critics of cultural revolution. Numerous articles are devoted to the subject of Newton's creativity, and the author himself had time to describe his way of life colorfully in his autobiography. At the same time, people rarely wonder why Newton's works continue to be so popular even now. After all, photographers have been shooting nudes and making a living since the invention of the first photographic technology in the mid-nineteenth century. Shooting celebrities could also boast almost any photographer with average skills. And the cultural revolution began long before the birth of Newton. What is then the secret of artist’s success, whose photographs continue to be published, attract the attention of the public and cause lively debate even a decade and a half after his death?

The answer to this question undoubtedly lies in a number of interrelated parameters, harmoniously combined in Newton's oeuvre. Perhaps most important of these, however, is the fact that it is Newton's photographs that are directly responsible for changing the visual, and with it the attitudinal, perceptions of society at large about the social role of women. Yes, the loud theses about gender equality and women's suffrage have been expressed in Western European culture since the French Revolution, and became the "hallmark" of the Socialist Revolution. But it took time for these notions to become commonplace, no longer in doubt among everyday people. The world had to endure the tragedies of two world wars before women could clearly prove their ability to replace men in their usual positions. Also, in the wake of the post-war crises of traditional religious morality and the introduction of practices from Eastern cultures, a sexual revolution took place, and society became more relaxed about what had previously been considered totally unacceptable and prosecuted.

The success and subsequent popularity of Newton's photographs lay in the fact that the author was on the cusp of popularizing these social and cultural changes, and his work became symbols of the author's contemporary cultural innovations. After all, Newton was not only shooting for himself or for "underground" clients, but he also got his work published in central periodicals such as Vogue, Harper's Baazar and Playboy.  He shot pornographic, erotic, fetishistic, S&M movies featuring unknown models and even celebrities, such as Sigourney Weaver, made famous in Alien and Avatar, who became an icon of the new concept of woman. For these reasons alone, the impact of Newton's work on changing social stereotypes was enormous and in demand, and as a result it is difficult to overestimate the role of his work as a catalyst for profound changes in public life. Moreover, the author himself did not approach his mission spontaneously. He is often quoted as saying that a girl wearing high-heeled shoes attracts the attention of men more actively than one wearing regular shoes. This statement, which Newton has repeatedly illustrated in his works, is considered a metaphor for the idea of the image of women in general. It is largely thanks to Newton that a woman's slender athleticism, sharp predatory gaze and extravagant costume on the male model have become the norm of modern daily life, replacing notions of patriarchal modesty, unquestioning subordination, limited career prospects and appearance in the spirit of Rubens' paintings.

It should be noted that in the current climate of a world undergoing a global pandemic, the significance of Newton's work has once again come to the forefront of public attention. Indeed, in the wake of the restrictive measures of self-isolation that are being imposed everywhere, an environment of close contact and nervous tension has led to an escalation of cases of conflict in which women often find themselves on the aggrieved side. This dynamic has already been reflected in a number of public speeches by legal equality advocates, as well as in new contemporary art projects. In this regard, Newton's works, which visually affirm fundamental changes in society, remain particularly relevant, calling for a conscious rejection of prejudice and urging a move toward love rather than war.

At the same time, we should also not forget that no matter how important the substantive side of Newton's work is, his works are outstanding examples of photographic art not only for this reason. For in them, along with erotic scenes, the viewer sees the mastery of the treatment of light, the skill of compositional construction of the frame, the ability to achieve a wide gradation of halftones. Newton's photographs are not just nudes, as the unsophisticated majority tend to think. On the contrary, they are works of visual art in which it is not so much the subject being portrayed that is important, but the way in which it is portrayed. History is certainly not subject to the subjunctive mood, but it is safe to say that with such developed ideas about the visual possibilities of photography, Newton could well have devoted himself to shooting any genre, and would have succeeded in doing so. After all, in the hands of a talented artist, any object can become a work of art. Unfortunately, this important aspect of the photographer's work is forgotten by many of his imitators and critics who superficially interpret Newton's subject matter as the only reason for his popularity. Besides, who knows what the future of the modern, high-tech age holds for us, and what will be the benchmark of attractiveness and social behavior in a few years. After all, even the epatage models depicted in Newton's photographs may soon become irrelevant and end up on the pedestal of museum history where such past masterpieces as Venus of Milos, The Birth of Venus, Venus of Urbino or The Great Odalisque already rest, without causing plebs' indignation.

Artem Loginov