Helmut Newton's 'Sumo' days

Berliners and visitors to their city have the chance all through next May to view the iconic Helmut Newton photographs that were once confined to "Sumo", the most expensive photo book published in the last century.

The Helmut Newton Foundation is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the much-coveted collector's book by exhibiting, for the first time, all  394 photos.

Publisher Benedikt Taschen released 10,000 copies of "Sumo" in 1999, each one signed by Newton.

They cost US$1,500 apiece, had 464 pages and, bound in custom-made metal book holders designed by Philippe Stark, weighed 30 kilograms, setting new records in book weight and dimension.

Newton and his wife June, who was credited as editor, spent three years compiling the book, including his fashion photography, nudes, advertisement and portraits.

Copy No 1 of "Sumo", signed by more than 100 of the book's celebrity subjects, was auctioned for the equivalent of $430,000, which for a 20th-century book was another record.

The Newton Foundation is releasing a smaller edition of "Sumo" for ¤100 (Bt4,890) to coincide with the Berlin exhibition.

Helmut Newton was one of the most influential and controversial photographers of the century. Born in 1920 in Berlin, his Jewish ancestry forced him to flee Nazi oppression.

He moved to Singapore and worked briefly as a photographer for the Straits Times before relocating to Australia, where he shot fashion spreads for various publications. Finally, in 1961, he settled in Paris, where his work appeared in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.

Newton developed an "erotic-urban" style in which the model's skin was revealed in a stylised manner, evoking what was billed as daring and decadent. For Vogue in 1981 he portrayed four models in the same posture, with and without clothes. Predatory naked women wearing chains and dog collars became his signature image.

There was, of course, outrage at the time, but Newton later became a celebrated portraitist, photographing Andy Warhol, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Taylor, Karl Lagerfeld and many other celebrities and, while portraying their exclusive and eccentric lives, questioning fame's cliches.

Newton was killed in a car wreck in Los Angeles in 2004, but the images remain a tribute to him - as original, distinctive and seductive as ever. His influence on younger photographers is unquestioned.

A small corner of the exhibition space, designated "June's Room", contains portraits of the remarkable women she photographed, including Betty Ford, Vivienne Westwood and Nancy Kissinger.

Also on view is the permanent "Private Property" exhibition, where a near-life-size image of Newton in a green Hawaiian shirt with his camera around his neck greets visitors. Much of his personal equipment and other belongings are on display.

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The exhibition at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin continues through May 16. Find out more at www.Helmut|Newton.com.