William Helburn: A Pioneer in Fashion Photography and the Creative Revolution

Born in New York City in 1924, Helburn was an art student before serving in a photo unit in World War 2. He was inspired to become a fashion photographer after the war, when an army friend described encountering top model Lisa Fonssagrives, posing naked in the snow for her photographer-husband Fernand. The chance meeting and an invitation to Fonssagrives’ New York studio led first to work shooting aspiring models, then to the Design Laboratory, a photographers workshop run by Harper’s Bazaar art director Alexey Brodovitch. Helburn’s work there impressed Brodovitch so much he assigned Helburn ten-pages in Bazaar, launching his career.

Helburn soon became recognized for his creative gifts, both in the world of fashion photography and among the advertising agencies that reinvented graphic arts in America in the 50s and 60s with their “creative revolution.” With images that alternated elegance with a “shock value” aesthetic and a drive to “do it different,” Helburn’s pictures were everywhere, even as his name remained little known outside professional circles. William Helburn died in his Connecticut home in 2020.

Selected artworks from the shop

HUEBY by William Helburn, 1967

Model: Hueby Breckenridge

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THE MARCH LION ROARS by William Helburn

Fifth Avenue, New York City 1949
Models: Patricia Donovan and Ann Murray

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FOUR BEAUTIES by William Helburn, 1967

Models: Wilhelmina, Sharon Tate, Josephine Attominoff and Jean Shrimpton

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RED CANOE by William Helburn

Gramercy Park, New York City 1957

Model: Barbara Mullen

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PAUL NEWMAN AND JOANNE WOODWARD IN TIMES SQUARE

Times Square, New York City 1960

Portraits: Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward

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SIMONE WITH WHIPPET by William Helburn

Old Penn Station, New York City 1959

Models: Simone D’Aillencourt and Walter Purdy

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STOPPING TRAFFIC by William Helburn

Park Avenue South, New York City 1958

Models: Joanna McCormick, Janet Randy, Betsy Pickering and Gretchen Harris

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LIMO by William Helburn, 1951

Model: Joanna McCormick

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CARRIAGE AT NIGHT by William Helburn

Central Park, New York City 1958

Models: Carmen Dell’Orefice, Joanna McCormick and unknown

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BUS TOP by William Helburn

Madison Park, New York City 1958

Models: Dovima and Jean Patchett

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