LONDON.- Helmut Newton is widely viewed as one of the most important photographers of the 20th Century.

A collection of works by this prolific, internationally acclaimed fashion photographer whose provocative, black-and-white photos galvanized the fashion industry are on display at The Empty Quarter Gallery. Along with photographers like Herb Ritts, Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, Helmut moved fashion photography from a staid reflection of this year's styles to a more artful presentation of mood and story. His groundbreaking works pointed the way for generations of photographers to come.

Helmut first achieved international fame in the 1970's when he preferred to shoot in the street or interiors like hotels, airplanes, cars and luxurious villas, rather than studios. Controversial scenarios bold lighting, and striking compositions underpinned with excellent technical skills came to form his signature look.

Along side Helmut's iconic works, are the famous photographs of portrait photographer Frank Worth. The darling of Hollywood celebrities from the early ‘40's to mid ‘60's; Worth captured them in their most unguarded moments.

His black and white candid pictures are unusual for the era, when most stars limited themselves to carefully posed glamour portraits. With many amazing subjects such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Frank Sinatra, and Grace Kelly - he created beautiful portraits with stories to tell.

Photographs of the entertainment industry by photographer Peter Sanders complete the ensemble of images on display. Sanders' early photographs have captured musical greats Bob Dylan, The Stones, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, the Doors, T-Rex, Jimi Hendrix at the height of their creative powers. From the mid ‘60's to early ‘70's, the slender, ethereal young photographer was catching every act that passed through England, acts that have become rock and roll Icons.

Sanders remembers the early days as a ‘particularly warm time'. "The fog was finally lifting after world war 2. It was a unique meeting of cultures and time. These musicians were very accessible. Everybody was being cool. There was a kind of unwritten code of cool and you didn't intrude into a person's space. Because of this, it was very inclusive. We were friends and neighbours and part of the alternative society. "

This exhibition is the first time Sanders' iconic photographs of musical greats have been collected and printed. A vibrant document of men and women who made rock and roll history.

Overall a unique and entertaining exhibiton, not to be missed.

Helmut Newton
Helmut was born in Berlin (1920- 2004) and lived in Germany, Australia, England, France and later in life Los Angeles, California and Monte Carlo where the glamorous and beautiful could be found. Interested in photography from the age of 12 when he purchased his first camera, Helmut worked for the German photographer Yva (Elsie Neulander Simon) from 1936. The budding fashion and theatre photographer went on to Australia in 1946 where he partnered with fellow photographer Henry Talbot, a fellow German. Helmut's association with Talbot continued even after 1957, when he left Australia for London to photograph for British Vogue. In 1961 Helmut settled in Paris where he would remain through the ‘60's and ‘70's shooting for most notably Paris Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. In 1990 he was awarded the Grand Prix national de la photographie; in 1992 the German government awarded him Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz for services to German culture, and he was appointed Officier des Arts, Lettres et Sciences by S.A.S. Princess Caroline of Monaco. In 1996, he was appointed Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Minister of Culture at the time. Working and living in close companionship with his wife until his death at 83, his images remain as distinctive, seductive and original as ever.

Frank Worth
During his lifetime, Frank Worth (1923 - 2000) had never sold or published his amazing collection of more than 10,000 photographs of Hollywood's biggest stars!

Worth was a very close and intimate friend of ‘'la crème de la crème'' of the American motion picture industry.

Shortly before his death in 2000, Worth confessed that, aside from being a photographer, he was commissioned by the C.I.A. to keep an eye on these famous people during the infamous MacCarthy period in America.

Most of Worth's images were thought to have been lost but after his death were re- discovered by a relative and eventually placed on display.

Peter Sanders
Peter Sanders was born in London (1946) and began his photographic career in the mid 1960s as one of London's key photographers of rock musicians. Rock and Roll changed the world, and in the 1960s Britain was the epicenter of the Rock and Roll universe. Band after band burst out of the British club scene, hit the charts, made the trans-Atlantic crossing, and took America and then the world by storm in what came to be known as "The British Invasion". And then American rockers made the crossing to the other side of the pond to play the Albert Hall, the Roundhouse, the Lyceum, Hyde Park and the Isle of Wight Festival.

Peter Sanders was there - an eyewitness to it all.