Helmut Newton and the mannequin: the ambiguity of the artificial

Abstract

Throughout his career, the photographer Helmut Newton has displayed a fascination for mannequins, due to this inanimate being´s lifelike appearance in photographic work. Combining a personal philosophical vision, Newton, by way of deliberate parallelism, developed the ​​personification of the mannequin and the archetype of the human being. In this regard the German photographer used to his advantage the pages of Vogue magazine and his own catalogues. In almost impossible scenarios or in deliberately sexualized poses, he photographed mannequins wearing the clothes of the great fashion designers, employing the hyper-realistic mannequins of the Rootstein and Hindsgaul firms, who, from the artist’s perspective, crossed the limit of their real purpose, manifesting their subversive nature instead.