The Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin presents two new exhibitions, Rooms / Stages and Helmut Newton’s One-off Album. Opening on 4 June 2026, the exhibitions explore the transformation of space into a stage, bringing together a presentation by a dozen artists, monumental works by Helmut Newton, and a unique photo album shown in Berlin for the first time.
Helmut Newton’s One-off Album appears in Berlin for the first time. Newton assembled the album in 1999 for collector Gert Elfering. It now belongs to the Nicola Erni Collection. The album includes 103 small-format original prints in black-and-white and color. Newton and Elfering selected the works and added handwritten titles or anecdotes. The selection includes iconic fashion photographs, never-before-exhibited working shots taken behind the scenes, Polaroids, and advertising images.
Rooms / Stages shifts attention from the performative act to the space itself. Following the foundation’s 2019 exhibition Body Performance, this thematic sequel considers how rooms, interiors, and architectural settings can become central subjects in photography. Artists present one body of work, incorporating staged portraits, long exposures, deserted interiors, museums, studios, subway tunnels, dance, and theatre to examine the space as a visual motif in itself.
Across fashion photographs from the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, Newton transformed hotel rooms and lobbies in Paris, Milan, and New York into photographic stages. Later, he created contrast by using raw exterior settings in Monte Carlo and even his own garage. In these works, Newton operated like a film director and set designer, shaping each location as a stage.
The exhibition is accompanied by Helmut Newton: One-off, published by Phaidon in partnership with the Nicola Erni Collection.
