真實或編撰－Helmut Newton與June Newton之 共同創作Us and Them研究

Truth or Manipulation ? A Study on Helmut Newton and June Newton’s Us and Them

張鈺(CHANG, YU)

指導教授 ： 曾少千

國立中央大學/文學院/藝術學研究所/碩士(2015年)

摘要

Helmut Newton（Helmut Neustaedter, 1920-2004）在1970年代以性感冷酷的強捍女性形象聞名時尚攝影界，但他的作品也遭受貶抑女性的批評，更使Helmut受到厭女情結的質疑。事實上，Helmut在作品中所體現的是某種「趣味性的顛覆」(playful subversion)，而他更將女性視為共同合作者。如1998年他與妻子June Newton（June Browne, June Brunell, Alice Springs, 1923-）的創作Us and Them，便反映這種合作關係。其中收錄兩人的自拍照、為對方拍攝的作品及名人肖像作品，且以並置的方式加以編排，彰顯各自作品間的異同處。Helmut曾在這本作品的序言指出：「我能在Alice Springs 的肖像中看見真實和單純。而我也承認在我作品中所存在的操縱與編撰。」但作品Us and Them卻顯示，兩人的作品實際上混雜了真實與編撰，更充斥著創作上的相互影響。

本文第一章以兩人源自於時尚攝影界的背景為開端，闡明各自的作品特色及於創作歷程上的重大轉折。從兩人早期作品特色上的相似與創作轉變時間點上的吻合，皆可看出他們對彼此的深刻影響。第二章則是進入Us and Them中的作品分析，在自拍照部份，它不僅顯露Helmut對死亡的恐懼，也展現他對情色概念的重視，進而與Georges Bataille（1897-1962）的理念相符。另一方面，自拍照更呈現出June對自身攝影師身份認可的過程，使兩人的創作理念得以釐清。而在拍攝對方的作品中，可見Newton夫婦對彼此的觀點，透露Helmut逐漸改變對June的看法，從致命女人原型轉而成為共同創作者，與June於作品中對自身創作者主權的強調。第三章透過雙方對同一人物肖像之對比，彰顯彼此的肖像作品特色，展現出真實與編撰特質的交錯呈現，並再度驗證Newton夫婦對彼此的深刻影響。此外，藉由兩人作品中對魅力與反魅力特質的呈現，也表述他們對名人肖像的觀點，即名人肖像皆是由攝影師與被攝者所共同創造的文化製造物之本質。綜言之，在本文對Us and Them的分析下，不僅為Helmut作品中的女性形象提出解釋，修正對Helmut的厭女情結批判，也進一步驗證June自身的攝影成就，與她對Helmut創作上的貢獻及影響，並標誌Us and Them此一Newton夫婦的獨特共同創作在肖像攝影上的重要性。

關鍵字

Helmut Newton ； June Newton ； Us and Them ； 共同創作 ； 時尚攝影 ； 肖像攝影 ； 自拍照 ； 情色 ； 致命女人 ； Georges Bataille ； 名人肖像 ； 魅力與反魅力 ； 文化製造物

並列摘要

In the 1970s, Helmut Newton（Helmut Neustaedter, 1920-2004） gained fame by his cool, sexy and dominant female images in fashion photography. Meanwhile, Helmut’s works were also criticized by feminists with their connotation of demeaning women. For that reason, feminists referred to Helmut as a misogynist. In fact, the particular female images of Helmut’s works simply presented a kind of “playful subversion” for him. Additionally, he treated women as his collaborators in his photographic career. Us and Them, which was published in 1998, demonstrated his collaboration with his wife, June Newton（June Browne, June Brunell, Alice Springs, 1923-）. It includes the Newton’s self-portraits, the portraits photographed by each other, and their portraits of the same celebrities. With their works’ juxtaposition in this series, we can realize the similarities and differences of the Newton’s works. In the introduction of Us and Them, Helmut indicated: “I can see the truth and simplicity in the portraits of Alice Springs. As for myself, I recognise the manipulation and editorializing in my photographs.” However, the elements of truth and manipulation coexist in Us and Them, which also reveals their immense influences on each other.

My first chapter begins with the Newton’s background of fashion photograph, which articulates the characteristics of their works and great shifts of their careers. Through the similar features of their early works, and the coincidence of the watershed period in their photographic career, their great impact on each other is undeniable. In the second chapter, I focus on their works in Us and Them. Helmut’s self-portraits expose his fear of death. Moreover, the concept of eroticism he emphasized in these works is in accord with George Bataille’s. On the other hand, these self-portraits also demonstrate the process of how June acquired her self-identity as a photographer, and provide the clues about their creative concepts. In the part of the Newton photographed by each other, we can easily recognize Helmut’s change of his viewpoint about June. She is no more a prototype of femme fatale but a collaborator for Helmut, and June also attempted to emphasize her own authority as a creator. The comparison of the Newton’s portraits in the third chapter not only reinforces the differences between Helmut and June’s works, but also presents the overlapping traits in them and proves the Newton’s mutual influences. In addition, the elements of glamour and anti-glamour in these works declare their viewpoints about celebrity portraits, which are collaborative cultural fabrications of the photographed subjects and the photographers. In conclusion, my analysis about Us and Them provides an explanation about the complex meaning of the female images in Helmut’s works, and corrects the misogynous criticism about Helmut. Moreover, my dissertation also clarifies June’s achievement in portrait photography and her immense impact on and contribution to Helmut’s photographic creation, and marks the importance of this extraordinary collaborative creation of the Newton in portrait photography.

並列關鍵字

Helmut Newton ； June Newton ； Us and Them ； collaborative creation ； fashion photography ； portrait photography ； self-portrait ； eroticism ； femme fatale ； Georges Bataille ； celebrity portraits ； glamour and anti-glamour ； cultural fabrication

參考文獻

Berlin, 2010.

Ash, Juliet, Wilson, Elizabeth ed. Chic Thrills: A Fashion Reader. London : Pandora,

University of California Press, 1996.

Hall-Duncan, Nancy. The History of Fashion Photography. New York : Alpine Book

Kozloff, Max. The Theatre of the Face: Portrait Photography Since 1900. London ;