Australian photographer June Newton dies aged 97

BERLIN: Australian photographer June Newton has died aged 97 in Monte Carlo, the foundation she created announced Saturday. A renowned portraitist, she is famous for capturing Yves Saint-Laurent, Billy Wilder, Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Kidman, Madonna and even the Hells Angels for magazines like Vanity Fair, Elle and Vogue.

The Helmut Newton Foundation, of which she was president, said she died in her home on Friday.

"We mourn the loss of an outstanding person and an internationally recognised photographer," the foundation said in a statement. Newton, whose maiden name was Brown and worked under the pseudonym Alice Springs, fell into photography when she stepped in for her husband, legendary photographer Helmut Newton, on a shoot in 1970.