On the occasion of Helmut Newton’s 80th birthday, in 2000, the New National Gallery in Berlin organised a retrospective show of his work. It was the first time that a photographer was exhibited in these 'hallowed halls'. Three years later Newton decided to transfer parts of his archive as well as a permanent loan to his native town of Berlin into his own Foundation. In a public-private-partnership with the Prussian Cultural Heritage, the Museum of Photography was opened with the Helmut Newton Foundation in summer 2004. It is located in an historical building which was designed as a military casino in 1909 and used after WWII as a place for the arts: the Gallery of the 20th Century Art, a precursor of the New National Gallery, furthermore the Berlinische Galerie, which is Berlin’s municipal museum of art, and the Art Library have been located in this building before it was given to Helmut Newton. His wish was for a "lively building, not a dead museum". The Helmut Newton Foundation is now dedicated to the preservation, examination and presentation of the œuvre, of its founder as well of that of his wife June, who has created a significant own body of work since 1970 under the name Alice Springs.