Newton Foundation Stages 'Rooms / Stages' with Contemporary Dialogues

The Newton Foundation in Berlin presents 'Rooms / Stages', an exhibition curated by Matthias Harder that juxtaposes Helmut Newton's spatial photography with works by twelve contemporary artists. The show explores how photographers use rooms as stages, from Newton's early 1960s fashion shoots in restaurants and hotel lobbies to his later theatrical work for Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal and the Ballet de Monte Carlo. Contemporary contributors include George Rousse, whose painted architectural spaces create optical illusions visible only through the camera; Ricarda Roggan, whose empty rooms with worn furniture evoke human presence; Viktoria Binschtok, who contrasts Google Street View images with her own analog photographs of New York; Anna Lehmann-Brauns, documenting LGBTQ+ safe spaces in San Francisco; and Jana Sophia Nolle, who reconstructs homeless shelters in wealthy living rooms in San Francisco and Berlin. The exhibition layout progresses from empty space to image space to stage space, culminating in Paolo Ventura's painted photographs with miniature stage and figurines, plus a larger wooden stage in the foyer for visitor interaction. Harder notes that Newton acted as location scout, director, and dramaturge, often creating elaborate sets for a single jewelry shot where the product becomes marginal. The show runs at the Newton Foundation near Bahnhof Zoo.