10/31/20---01/23/04


[SIZE=3]Acclaimed photographer Helmut Newton died after his car sped out-of-control from the driveway of the Chateau Marmont hotel and crashed into a wall. He was 83.[/SIZE]

Newton apparently lost control of his Cadillac while leaving the hotel in Hollywood, said Officer April Harding, a police spokeswoman. It was unclear whether he became ill while driving or some other cause resulted in the crash. People were walking on the sidewalk in front of the driveway, and the car brushed a photographer heading into the hotel before colliding with the wall. Newton was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he died a short time later, she said.
The German-born photographer, who was Jewish, fled his homeland for Singapore in December 1938, a month after Nazi-led persecution programs began. He eventually settled in Australia and became a citizen, then took up residence in Monte Carlo, overlooking the Mediterranean -- a frequent backdrop for his nude images.

Newton was a trailblazer in the fashion photography world, exploring power, gender roles and an icy sexuality in his pictures.
Among the beautiful and powerful people Newton has photographed were Paloma Picasso, Pierre Cardin, Naomi Campbell, Jean-Marie Le Pen and Claudia Schiffer.
While Newton also photographed clothed celebrities and nature scenes, he favored photographing women, usually while they wore little more than high heels.
The coldly erotic imagery often alarmed feminists as well as those with tamer sensibilities. A hosiery ad he shot, featured on a giant billboard in Times Square for a time, was banned from the side of New York city buses in 1998 because it was deemed to be too racy. It showed a rear-end view of a woman lying face-down, wearing only a pair of stockings. A side view of her bare breast also was visible.