Introduction Photography has been accorded a significant place in art theory and history, particularly with respect to the twentieth century development of the avant-garde. One of the major factors that have played a crucial role in the history and development of photography is surrealism. Surrealism in photography has come a long way since the 1920s when photographers started to transform their work from illustrations of the real world to something unreal and bizarre. In the history of photography, surreal photographers have developed concepts and pieces of work that seek to transmit the world beyond the real into a bizarre and unusual one.

Helmut Newton, Henri Cartier Bresson and Guy Bourdin encapsulated the changes taking place in photography during the middle of the twentieth century. The surrealist photographers of this time coincided historically, even if they did not work together. Despite their peculiar style, these three photographers unintentionally transformed commercial photography through surrealism. They transcended the conventional photographic norms of the time because of their unique ways of manipulating the medium and presenting images on film. Film was no longer about verisimilitude but about evoking feelings. The surrealist approaches of Newton, Bresson & Bourdin enlarged the public sense on what photography can do.

Surrealism in Photography

Starting as a major movement in painting, surrealism became important to the development and growth of photography. Surrealism in photography was characterized by attempts by photographers to go far beyond realism, as they “saw the forces of reason blocking the access routes to the imagination.”[footnoteRef:1] In essence, surrealism in photography entailed the creation of pieces of work and illustrations that sought to unfurl the real world into something unreal and bizarre. Consequently, surreal photography could be considered contrary to the early forms of photography that simply captured what the human eye might see. Instead of capturing a blunt reality, the surrealists were interested in “moments of psychic intensity in provocative forms of unrestrained, convulsive beauty.”[footnoteRef:2] [1: “Photography and Surrealism.” The Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phsr/hd_phsr.htm] [2: “Photography and Surrealism.” The Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phsr/hd_phsr.htm]

Surrealism took center stage in photography in the post-war 1950s, starting with Man Ray, but reached a commercial peak in fashion photography. The gradual change in the function and form of photography coincided with shifts in gender norms during the sexual revolution and countercultural movements of the 1960s. Photographers also capitalized on the use of color to create mood and excitement in fashion photography by the 1960s and 1970s. The transformation of fashion photography through adoption of surrealism was reflected in the styles and works of various photographers such as Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s street photography was not as fashion-forward but contributed much to the settings of avant-garde fashion photography. Because of Newton, Bourdin, and Cartier-Bresson, the culture and tradition of surrealist photography has not only taken root and flourished, but also significantly influenced contemporary photography.

Helmut Newton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Guy Bourdin are photographers who played a crucial role in the adoption of surrealism in the field of commercial photography. Through their unique ways of manipulating the medium, these three photographers interjected a new aesthetic language into commercial photography. Newton, and Bourdin’s work changed the meaning and function of fashion photography, elevating this previously utilitarian work into an art form. Helmut Newton utilized a sexually provocative style for his fashion photography since he was determined to push the limits of social norms as far as they could go. Guy Bourdin also utilized provocative imagery but in a different way, fusing violence, sex, and innocence in provocative and surrealistic ways. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work was less about provocation and more about artful composition, lighting, and timing.

Newton was a German “high fashion photographer whose subversive approach to subject matter and form brought an edge to his editorial spreads.”[footnoteRef:3] Thus Newton became embedded into the mainstream world of philosophies of fashion photography. The influences of Helmut Newton’s work in fashion photography are still in evidence today. Newton used taboo subjects in provocative ways, something that would have been?unusual in the 1960’s and 1970’s, when he worked. Interested in presenting sexuality in new ways, fusing sex and fashion, Newton’s work also has a surrealist edge. [3: “Helmut Newton.” ArtNet. http://www.artnet.com/artists/helmut-newton/]
(Image from Charmoy)

For example, in the image in the bottom left, there is a woman flexing her bicep in a classically male pose. Her breasts are bare, with rope wrapped tightly around and across her torso. She wears long black gloves, signifying her sexual power. Along with the rope, the gloves represent sexual power via the use of bondage and fetish. It is a surreal image in that it upsets traditional imagery of women depicted as tender, soft, and subservient. Likewise, she appears like a Greek god or a male superpower, and yet she is fully female. She is not androgynous or asexual in the least, but she is taking back her power as a woman and refuses to allow the male gaze to alter her self-image or how the audience will view her. Thus, male and female are juxtaposed in surreal ways; Newton makes a strong statement about gender roles, norms, and power.

Surrealism and sexuality are used together in most of Newton’s imagery. In the image to the upper right, Newton uses mirror to achieve surrealistic effect. The viewer does not know whether the form in the mirror is a reflection or if it is another photograph, framed. The nude whose back is toward the viewer becomes the voyeur. Newton essentially transposes the male gaze onto a female, and now she is in control of how she is depicted, as well as how her sexuality is framed in the image in the background. There appears also to be a couple embraced; the woman is watching them. The many layers of sexuality, gender, and voyeurism here are hallmarks of Newton’s provocative surrealistic style. Similarly, the woman in the upper left dangles a phallic symbol from her lip: the cigarette. Surrealists drew much from psychoanalytic theories of the mind and the subconscious, the repository of dreams, desires, and sexual urges. This image is of the oral fixation.

In this image, a nude female stands with her back to the viewer. She is at the precipice of a pool, a symbol of the unconscious mind. A director’s chair is placed to her right, facing the viewer. It is incongruous and out of place, and yet it symbolizes the empowerment of the female—the female as the director. As with other Helmut images, the female becomes the director of the scene. Helmut Newton consciously removes the male gaze.

Newton’s work reflected surrealism through portraying the underlying tensions regarding the myths, images, and fantasies of sexuality. Newton’s signature style of photography was a unique combination of sex and theater. He often took explicit photographs that challenged the existing beliefs regarding sexuality. Consequently, Helmut Newton was accused of being regressive and exploitative because of the emerging issues of eroticism of women. Newton’s determination to push the limits and go as far as he could on the issue of sexuality is seen in nearly all his work in fashion photography. Newton’s determination to push limits and go as far as he could on the issue of sexuality is seen in nearly all of his work in fashion photography. For example, his works for American Vogue’s “Story of Ohh”, depicted open, forceful lust since they featured a man, two women, and a dog:

Newton’s style and work reflected surrealism in photography through exhibiting explicitly sexualized images of nude and semi-nude women that shocked the viewer and opened the window to an unusual world.

Guy Bourdin…