This arresting collection of photography features work by both Helmut Newton and his wife, the actress Alice Springs. Newton's coolly elegant and sexy (pornographic?) studies are splendidly counterpointed by Springs' warmer and more vulnerable pieces. The book is divided into self-portraits and portraits by and of each other before a final joint section featuring the same subjects as seen by the two photographers.

The cast is a glitzy mix of riviera-style celebrities. Catherine Denueve looks sultry with a cigarette and Lady Bubbles Rothermere looks a bit ruffled sitting on the edge of a bed. Karl Lagerfeld is here before he went grey--although he still has the pony tail--and Gianni Versace is, of course, naked on a leopard-skin sofa. The self portraits are revealing and occasionally disturbing. Springs is usually in various states of undress in front of mirrors while Newton, oddly, is sometimes naked and wired up to what looks like medical equipment. He might be having treatment for a heart complaint but as there's no text there's no real way of telling. But that's fine. This is a book of images not words and nearly all these fine photographs are worth at least a thousand of them. --Nick Wroe

Synopsis

Helmut Newton met his wife, June, in Melbourne, Australia, in 1947 - when he was becoming a fashion photographer and she was an actress. In 1970 June (who changed her artist's name to Alice Springs) started taking pictures as well. She focused on portraiture, while he continued to shock the photography and fashion establishment by blending haute couture with eroticism. "Us and Them" shows the revealing pictures they took of each other, as well as self-portraits and celebrities the two of them photographed. The book gives us a glance into a very intimate, warm relationship between two photographers, and between husband and wife. Whether in Paris at their apartment at Rue Aubriot, or in the hotel Chateau Marmont, Hollywood, the most intimate portraits come to life. All these images are testimony of a vibrant, loving, private and professional relationship of 50 years. After the book "Pages from the Glossies" which offers an in-depth view of Newton's work as a fashion photographer, this volume shows mostly unpublished images of the deeply emotional and intense relationship between two well-known artists.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Multidimensional Perspectives of Photography, 29 Jul 2004

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This book has one of the most interesting premises of any photography book I have had the pleasure to examine. Spouses, Helmut Newton and Alice Springs, share their photographic perspectives of each other, themselves, and the same models. These different views echo around in your mind to help you understand the personalities, purposes, and methods of two interesting photographers. In the process, you get a better understanding of the photography itself . . . and how it changes the models in our perception. By providing images over many decades, you also get a time-lapse view of a relationship and the aging process.

Before going further, let me note that this volume contains many nude images of men and women that would be past the "R" rating if this book were a motion picture.

The book has a few brief comments by Helmut Newton to set the stage. "The book shows the work of two photographers . . . but neither is usually present at the other's photographic sittings." They have had little influence on each other. Mr. Newton likes the direct simplicity of his wife's work while deriding the manipulation in his own.

Alice Springs looks for the core of the person, and captures the realities of daily life and aging very well. She shows you the joking and self-absorbed sides of Helmut Newton that help explain the stylized and challenging images that he is famous for producing. Helmut Newton obviously adds a gloss and a pose to everything, that gets his editorial position out. But it's fun in this context, much more so than in his other work. I found myself reevaluating his work after seeing these images by Alice Springs.

Here are my favorite images in the book by Alice Springs:

Of Helmut Newton -- Spain 1956; Rue Aubriot, Paris 1971; Ritz, London 1976; With Sylvia, Ramatuelle 1981; Monte-Carlo, 1987; Hollywood 1988, 1991

Of Alice Springs -- Ramatuelle, France 1975; Vail, Colorado 1996

Princess Caroline and son, Monte-Carlo 1985; Karl Lagerfeld, Monte-Carlo 1983; Rudi Gernreich, Los Angeles 1985; Tina Chow, Beverly Hills 1986; Angelica Houston, Hollywood 1983; Antonio Lopez, Paris 1977

Here are my favorite images in the book by Helmut Newton:

Of Alice Springs -- June as Hedda Gabler, Melbourne 1960; In our kitchen, Rue Aubriot, Paris 1972; Hotel Volney, New York 1982; Rue Aubriot, Paris 1974; Ramatuelle 1976

Of Helmut Newton -- Photomation, Paris 1970s; With wife and model, 1981; Clinique St. Jean, Cagnes-sur-Mer, 1997

Birgit Nielsen, Monte-Carlo 1987; Gianni Versace, Lake Como, Italy 1994; Donatella Versace, Off coast of Antibes, 1990; David Hockney, Los Angeles 1988; Peter Beard, Paris 1996

After you see this remarkable book, I suggest that you have some fun with your family. Take a day, bring a camera for each person, and make photographs of each other and the same subjects. Do this once a year to develop a better sense of your perspectives and relationships. Then comment on each other's work, and create a scrapbook or album out of this sharing. You'll have a lot of fun looking back on these images in future years.

Take a good look . . . and see more!

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