Helmut Newton’s early days as a fashion photographer for British, and later French Vogue in the 1950s and 1960s fall at the heels of his legendary contemporaries Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. By then the two American photographers had established their distinct visions, Penn as a timelessly elegant minimalist, Avedon as a high-wattage and dynamic luminary. Determined to mold a style that was undeniably his own, Newton blended a series of seemingly conflicting binaries, mixing high and low, nude and clothed, submissive and domineering, among others. The resulting style, uniquely Newton’s in its boldness, temptation and perfectionism, has since been continuously lauded as trailblazing by the fashion industry.

Newton’s Private Property Suites I, II and III present a compilation of images that are part irreverent, part sardonic, and wholly unapologetic in their proud celebration of beauty, seduction and female empowerment. Each suite, comprised of 15 images hand-selected by Newton in 1984, presents superb examples of Newton’s distinctly flirtatious style, one that he meticulously chiseled over a decades-long career. “I hate good taste,” he once mused, “It’s the worst thing that can happen to a creative person.” The taste for which Newton expressed disdain is less about aesthetic parameters and more about the photographer’s relation to his subjects. Unsurprisingly, as a portrait photographer Newton believed that his job was to “seduce, amuse and entertain.” The forty-five images in the Private Property Suites I, II and III successfully fulfill Newton’s mission.

Among the images are many of Newton’s iconic images, including Sie Kommen, taken from a low vantage point that imbues the four striding models with the unabashed pride of Amazons; Elsa Peretti, bunny, portraying the lauded jewelry designer, oil-fortune heiress and Halston muse in a titillating outfit as she luxuriates on her sprawling Manhattan terrace; Self-portrait with wife and models, Paris, which, with the aid of a handsome-sized mirror, conveys a rare glimpse of the behind-the-scenes power-collaboration between Newton and his wife, June; Two pairs of legs in black stockings, taken from a floor-level tilted angle befitting a candid camera, implying the hidden control exercised by its female protagonists; Office Love, Paris, cleverly turning the viewers into involuntary Peeping-Toms; and Woman examining man, U.S. Vogue, St. Tropez, in which the conventional gender hierarchy is subverted, situating the woman in full control as she playfully studies the male figure, reduced to a faceless if desired object. In all, Newton’s images indeed seduce, amuse and entertain.

Upon finalizing the choice images for Private Property, Newton decided on an edition size of seventy-five. However, the edition was never realized in full, with no more than twenty-five printings made. The lowered edition size, in conjunction with the undeniable strength of the images, present a whole that far exceeds the sum of its parts. Indeed, the three suites are more than a collection of Newton’s best images. Rather, they are the quintessence of his formidable and irresistibly enticing legacy.