Woman into Man, Paris 1979, negative 1979; print about 1984; from the Private Property Series, Helmut Newton, gelatin silver print
Gift of the Helmut Newton Foundation. © The Helmut Newton Estate. Image courtesy of Maconochie Photography
Transcript
[seductive music evoking period and mood]
MALE NARRATOR: Helmut Newton had a penchant for the risqué.
PATTY SICULAR: Helmut Newton's pictures, a lot of them were very racy and avant-garde. They were exciting to look at. They were different. It wasn't just a pose of a model in a pretty dress. It made people think.
MALE NARRATOR: In this photograph, two models engage in a sexually-charged moment. From afar, they appear to be a man and a woman, but the model on the is right actually a woman, model Robin Osler, wearing Yves Saint Laurent’s gender-bending “Le Smoking” suit. Co-Director of Iconic Focus Models, Patty Sicular, tells the story of the day Osler booked this shoot:
PATTY SICULAR: So Robin went to Vogue Paris along with a million other models and they had to stash models on all these different floors because so many people showed up wanting to work with Helmut Newton. [music ends] And Helmut Newton barged out of a room with a beer in one hand and said to all the girls, "Girls, I’m going to look at all of you at once. I’m really hungry and I really want to go to lunch." And he just walked straight over to Robin, examined her face and said, "You’re the one. Thank you everyone else. You can all go home." And they booked Robin Osler.
MALE NARRATOR: For Newton, Robin Osler had that indescribable "it" factor. [seductive music evoking period and mood] What, then, are the makings of a great fashion model?
PATTY SICULAR: For models that do more fashion, you have to give something back to get that picture, and you have to move well and have expressions and try daring things and crazy things. It’s like being a silent screen actor or actress. Look how strong Gia looks in that picture.
MALE NARRATOR: Gia Carangi is the model on the left, who brazenly puts one hand on Osler’s torso. Their intimate pose creates a pattern for the eye to follow, starting at the hands and outturned elbows, and ending at their faces, connected by their cigarettes. Carangi is presented as provocative, and Osler androgynous. Together, in this photograph, they express the evolving ideals of femininity.
[music ends]