I am very attracted by bad taste-it is a lot more exciting than that supposed good taste which is nothing more than a standardized way of looking at things.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that unconventional or 'bad' taste can lead to more exciting creativity than conforming to traditional standards of good taste.
Helmut Newton emphasizes the allure of embracing bad taste in art and aesthetics, arguing that it sparks excitement and originality. He critiques the notion of good taste as merely a monotonous standardization that stifles creativity and encourages a narrow view of beauty, suggesting that true innovation comes from breaking norms and exploring the unconventional.
In practice
In a speech about creativity in art, one might say, 'As Helmut Newton once stated, 'I am very attracted by bad taste.' This reflects how breaking away from norms can often lead to more intriguing results.
I have always avoided photographing in the studio. A woman does not spend her life sitting or standing in front of a seamless white paper background. Although it makes my life more complicated, I prefer to take my camera out into the street... and places that are out of bounds for photographers have always had a special attraction for me.
I like photographing women who appear to know something of life. I recently did a session with a great beauty, a movie star in in her thirties. I photographed her twice within three weeks and the second time I said: "You're much more beautiful today than you were three weeks ago." And she replied: "But I'm also three weeks older.
They often ask me to shoot for them. But I say no. I think an old guy like me ought not take pages away from young photographers who need the exposure.
I hate good taste. It's the worst thing that can happen to a creative person.
The point of my photography has always been to challenge myself, to go a little further than my Germanic discipline and Teutonic nature would traditionally permit me to.
The maker of kitsch does not create inferior art, he is not an incompetent or a bungler, he cannot be evaluated by aesthetic standards; rather, he is ethically depraved, a criminal willing radical evil. And since it is radical evil that is manifest here, evil per se, forming the absolute negative pole of every value-system, kitsch will always be evil, not just kitsch in art, but kitsch in every value-system that is not an imitation system.
I sit in the dark and wait for a little flame to appear at the end of my pencil.
The really great writers are people like Emily Brontë who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.
Art is the triumph over chaos.
We've come from the same history - 2000 years of persecution - we've just expressed our sufferings differently. Blacks developed the blues. Jews complained, we just never thought of putting it to music.
Through most of my career, I've made a decent living making movies no one wants to see.
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