An up coming photography show at the Helmut Newton Foundation Museum in Berlin, Germany, June 3, 2009. Featuring Photographer's Mark Arbeit, George Holz, Just Loomis, Helmut Newton
Born in Chicago in 1953, Arbeit was raised in Northern California. When Arbeit was 16, the family moved to Oahu, Hawaii, and the beauty of islands awakened Arbeit's senses. At 18, Arbeit enrolled in the University of Hawaii to study art and photography. A few years later, he decided to focus solely on photography, and transferred to the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. During his third year there, he met HELMUT NEWTON through a mutual friend. Newton took Arbeit on as an assistant, and Arbeit looked to Newton as a 'photo guru’.
Upon finishing his studies, Arbeit moved to New York, and was hired by IRVING PENN as a studio assistant. Again, Arbeit approached his work as an apprentice, taking everything in, peppering the master with questions. 'Penn was Mr. Technique,' says Arbeit. 'Everything he did is so meticulous, so perfect”.
After working for Penn, Arbeit moved to Milan to launch his own fashion photography career, and shot regularly for Linea Italia, Donna and Vogue Bellezza. In 1985, he settled in Paris to further his career as well as expand his artistic boundaries. To explore the experimental side of photography Arbeit and a few ambitious photographer friends from the Art Center formed a group called 'The Cauldron.' Its mission was simple: to take pictures that had never been done before. Arbeit chose focus as his tool, and launched 'In and Out of Focus', a series of photographs in which in the foreground Arbeit focuses sharply on a flower and in the background, an out-of-focus female nude mimics the shape and movement of the bloom. 'I wanted to show the form out of focus and let the viewer fill in the gaps, create something dreamy,' Arbeit explains.
Arbeit continued to work commercially, shooting fashion for French Vogue and Marie Claire, and portraits for In Style, People and Forbes. In 1992, he launched a second series, 'Artist Atelier,' of female nudes in Parisian artist ateliers. 'When I go into the atelier, I try to do two images,' Arbeit says. 'One is a portrait of the artist without the artist in the picture, and I achieve this by showing his paints, his tools, the room, his sculptures and paintings.' The second is the female form, ‘The light in these spaces draw the female form so well’. Following the Atelier series, Arbeit launched a project he calls 'Polajunk Constructions': a collection of photomontages made of all the material that comes in a Polaroid box. 'I use the positive and negative of the Polaroid combined with everything in a Polaroid box; aluminum, metal & plastic, paper in assorted colors and textures, instructions in seven languages, all combine it into a three-dimensional montage.' Most recently Arbeit has been working on a study of Hawaii, his adopted home. For it, he has photographed Hawaiians at play and in thought, the stunning mountainous landscapes and the flawless beaches. 'What's fascinating about Hawaii is all the different mixtures of cultures, the island people', says Arbeit, and of course, the light.
CONTACT INFO: www.markarbeit.com marka@markarbeit.com www.markarbeitphotography.com Tel.1 808 735 0008

GEORGE HOLZ is an American photographer whose work spans 30 years and includes nudes, fashion, and celebrity portraits. He is a native of Oak Ridge Tennessee, and graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1980. While at Art Center, Holz assisted for Helmut Newton, who urged him to move to Milan to pursue his vision.
In Milan, Holz developed his own unique style. Photo Italiana called him “a new up-and-comer with a unique independent style." In Europe, Holz’s work appeared in Italian Vogue, Lei, Linea Italiana, Madame Figaro and French Elle. After critical acclaim in Europe, he returned to Los Angeles for a short period where he photographed album covers, including a young Madonna for the iconic “Borderline” album. He moved to New York City in the mid 1980’s and opened a studio in the Village.
In New York, his fashion and beauty work appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Interview Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine. Holz photographed many advertising campaigns for diverse clients including Max Factor, DeBeers Diamonds, and Elizabeth Arden. His “Gold” campaign for the International Gold Corp won him a Clio Award. A unique use of light, shadow, motion, and composition continue to be his trademarks.
Holz took advantage of the sets, models, and locations that editorial and advertising work afforded him to pursue his personal work. He photographed a large series of nudes in his studio, juxtaposing them with animal bones and unusual industrial objects. Later, he turned his camera to photograph his subjects on locations throughout the world: forests, jungles, deserts, rivers, and vast landscapes. During this period, Holz and a group of fellow Art Center graduates formed "The Cauldron," a group of photographers that met regularly to share and critique each other’s work. The group, which included long time friends Just Loomis and Mark Arbeit, served to challenge and inspire it’s members.
In the early 1990's Holz’s work segued into celebrity portraiture. He began shooting in LA and NY for clients such as Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, and In Style. His list of subjects included a long series of A list celebrities, including Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce, and President Bill Clinton. Holz photographed movie posters including “Face Off” for Paramount Pictures with John Travolta and Nicholas Cage. His album cover for Suzanne Vega’s “Days of Open Hand” won him a Grammy Award.
Holz‘s photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world including Budapest, London, Tokyo, and Vienna. His exhibit, “Original Sin,” a collection of platinum prints sponsored by Tres Generationes Tequila, traveled to major cities in the US including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston. His work is in permanent collections at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and Centro Cultural/Arte Contemporaneo in Mexico City. He is represented by Fahey/Klein Gallery in LA and Staley Wise Gallery in NY.
Holz’s fine art work continues to be greatly influenced by Helmut Newton. He learned from Newton that the lines of art and commerce are often blurred. George and colleagues Mark Arbeit and Just Loomis consider Helmut Newton and wife June to be a profound influence, beloved mentors, and treasured friends.
George currently divides his time between assignments in NY, LA and Europe. When he’s not photographing, he lives with his wife and son on their farm in upstate New York. He is currently working on a book of his nudes, slated for release in 2010.
Just Loomis was born in Reno, Nevada. His first photographs in 1975 were of that purely American western town. At the age of eighteen he was given a Christmas gift by his sister in law Suzanne…Newton’s “Sleepless Nights.” It “blew him away.” While in art school he had the opportunity to meet and work with Newton, beginning a long and important mentorship-friendship with the photographer and his wife June that lasted over twenty years.
Loomis’ photographs have appeared internationally in exhibitions, numerous publications and in advertisements. His solo exhibition appeared at Lincoln Center in New York, May of 2009.
www.hatjecantz.de
German publisher Hatje Cantz is scheduled to release Loomis’ first book, a collection of contemporary American portraiture. An exhibition for the book will appear at the Hiltawsky Gallery in Berlin, October of 2010.
www.hiltawsky.com
“No one is doing Americana like Just…” June Newton
www.justloomis.com