Although most folks think of the Raleigh-Durham area as a social backwater, that is far from true.  One of the really neat things that we have is the annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.  Tommy & Kendall talked us into going to see two photography related films this year, one on Edward Weston, and one on Helmut Newton. While the former was interesting and melancholy, the latter, called “Helmut by June” was interesting and loads of fun too.  Now, through the magic of Cinemax, those of you in the hinterlands of New York and LA can enjoy the film too.  Troy Patterson of Slate Magazine, reviews the movie in this article.  June was Helmut’s wife, and documented quite a bit of their personal and professional life with her video camera.  Most of the footage has a home movie feel to it, but the folks in front of the camera are uber-celebrities (Cindy Crawford, Sigorny Weaver, etc).  As a photographer, I was engrossed in the details of his work on set and with the models, as well as his philosophy of shooting, which was sprinkled in.  As a view into the lifestyle of one of the modern masters of the medium, this was more than worth the time.

IMAGE: Helmut Newton was known for having highly sexualized and socially controversial images.  He walked the tightrope of fashion, fine art, and pornography.  He did it very successfully too, remaining one of the most sought after commercial photographers until his recent death.