From Playboy to the Nightclub Floor: Tracing a Newton Muse
In building my collection, I often come across images that carry stories far beyond what the frame alone reveals. One recent addition is a 35mm slide by Los Angeles photographer J.R. Reynolds, stamped ©1993 and later altered to read 1994. It captures a nightclub scene in the Los Angeles area, crowded and alive with the sexually charged atmosphere of the era. Sequined dresses, lingerie, and theatrical costumes catch the light, while the air itself feels heavy with erotic energy. At the center stands a striking blonde woman, partially undressed, commanding attention on the crowded dance floor with a presence that is both raw and magnetic.
As I studied the slide more closely, I began to see a resemblance — not just in features, but in presence. The central figure recalls the model photographed by Helmut Newton in his American Playboy, Hollywood 1990 series, shot at Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Ennis House. Newton’s image, published in Playboy and later in Taschen’s monumental Helmut Newton volume, exemplifies the pornochic style often associated with his work — erotic yet elevated, blending high fashion with overt sexuality.
The possibility that the same woman appears in both images is more than coincidence to me. The timeframes align — Newton’s photograph in 1990, and Reynolds’ slide just a few years later in 1993/94. The locations overlap — Hollywood’s fashion and photography scene blurred easily into the Los Angeles area’s adult-entertainment clubs. And the visual resemblance is compelling. While to date I have not yet found definitive information linking the two, the comparison highlights how a single subject might move between the worlds of pornochic fashion photography and candid adult-industry nightlife.
Placed side by side, the images form a fascinating dialogue. Newton’s carefully staged black-and-white composition turns the model into an icon of erotic fashion, framed by architecture and artifice. Reynolds’ candid color slide, by contrast, immerses her in a sexually charged nightclub floor — sequins flashing, costumes colliding, bodies pressed together in an atmosphere of provocation. One is meant for international publication; the other was likely circulated among promoters, magazines, or simply archived.
Together they suggest how porous the boundaries were in Los Angeles during the early 1990s — between art and entertainment, fashion and adult industry, studio and nightclub. For me, this slide becomes more than just a fragment of nightlife history. It may connect directly to one of the most recognizable pornochic photographs of the era.
The J.R. Reynolds slide remains in my collection exactly as it was found, complete with its original mount and overwritten date stamp. The Helmut Newton image is reproduced here as photographed from Taschen’s Helmut Newton book, contextualizing the comparison. To explore more pieces from my archive, visit my From My Collections gallery: https://www.secondfocus.com/gallery/From-My-Collections-Cultural-Erotic/G0000h1LWkCCepcc
World Photography Day: Inspired by Helmut Newton and Brigitte Nielsen
World Photography Day feels like the right moment to look back at the work that shaped my own vision behind the camera.
This photograph—Helmut Newton’s striking image of Brigitte Nielsen in Monte Carlo, 1987—has always stayed with me. Newton had a way of capturing strength, provocation, and glamour in one frame, creating images that were unapologetically bold. Brigitte Nielsen herself, towering and statuesque, seemed made for his lens—an icon of presence and attitude.
Newton’s work has been a lifelong influence on my photography. His fearless approach to composition, his embrace of power in femininity, and his willingness to confront the viewer continue to guide how I think about the subjects I photograph.
On this World Photography Day, rather than share my own work, I want to acknowledge the legacy of images like this one—reminders of how photography can challenge, provoke, and inspire.
To see more of my own work—from fast food photographed against black backgrounds, to bold nude portraits, aviation, bodybuilding, and scenes around Palm Springs—visit my website at SecondFocus.com.
Helmut Newton Things
A photograph of a photograph of items of Helmut Newton. My office looks much the same without the flowers and 8 ball. This was at the Annenberg Space For Photography in Century City CA.
Sumo
A truly superb documentary about photographer Helmut Newton. Certainly my most admired and that of many more over the decades. From 2004 on the introduction of the giant volume of his works by Taschen. Long since sold out but last available for $22,500. https://www.taschen.com/…/blog/1485.exclusive_preview.htm
Does Sex Still Sell Fashion?
A very interesting story from Vogue UK…
“As BABY SUMO, a masterpiece reworking of Helmut Newton’s seminal tome, hits shelves on what would have been the photographer’s 100th birthday, Vogue asks if sex really does still sell women’s fashion?”
“It’s an interesting moment to rerelease SUMO (1999), the 464-page Helmut Newton monograph that weighed 35kg and came with a specially designed Philippe Starck stand. To meet the current moment, it has been redesigned: now called BABY SUMO, it’s half the size and relatively speaking, it’s reasonably priced at £1,000. (The signed first-edition of SUMO became the most expensive book of the 20th century when it sold at auction in Berlin for 620,000DM in 2000, approximately £506k today.)”
Read the full story here… https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/helmut-newton-fashion-photography
Helmut Newton Budapest
My favorite photographer, Helmut Newton. His work was unique, creative, original, as well as often erotic and termed “Porno Chic”. April 2013, I arrived in Budapest to be the special stills photographer on a motion picture.
As the studio car drove me from the airport through Heroes Square to my hotel, we passed the Museum Of Fine Arts. I said to myself, my first day off, I would go see this Helmut Newton Exhibit. Indeed I did! It was a huge exhibit including some of his more commercial fashion work in color. Huge prints in beautiful color it was. A great start for what was seven weeks for me in Budapest.
Selfies And Photographers And Artists
As I mentioned yesterday, I like seeing selfies, they are fun. The one I posted yesterday was more fun than selfie but I like the photography. Anyway it got me to thinking of famous photographers and artists who have done selfies long before they were selfies. This is one of my favorites from one of my most admired photographers, Helmut Newton. And that is his wife June watching the shoot session. Some people thought it so odd that she was okay with him being around so many beautiful naked women.
The Photographer I Most Admire…
I am often asked which photographer I most admire as a photographer myself. The first person I always say is this man, Helmut Newton. His work ranged from erotic to kinky to fashion to scenes of life. Published in all of the finest magazines around the world as well as having photographed endless ad campaigns, he sought to photograph what he wanted to photograph and let the world accept what he did or not. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 83 but exhibits of his work are continuing to be shown in museums around the world. Google Helmut Newton when you have time and take a look. This is my photograph of a poster for an exhibit of his works last year at The Annenberg Space for Photography. Thanks!
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