“He was original, he was carefree, and above all he was sophisticated. All of this driven by a sense of humor and the desire to shock.” – Jerry Schatzberg, from the book, William Helburn: Seventh and Madison.
William Helburn’s playful, sexy photographs are among the most original and enduring fashion images of the past century. For more than thirty years, Helburn used glamour and humor to serve ad agencies and art directors, clothiers and cosmetic firms, Chrysler and Coca-Cola. His creative credo: “Do it different … Shock value was a term that was used. And I meant to shock people as much as I could.”
William Helburn was born in New York City in 1924. His entree to photography came in 1942 when he joined the U.S. Army Air Force and learned to load and operate cameras, develop film and make contact prints and aerial maps while serving in the Pacific theatre. After the war, Helburn returned to New York and enrolled in Harper’s Bazaar art director Alexey Brodovitch’s Design Laboratory for aspiring photographers and graphic designers. Helburn’s work appealed to Brodovitch, who demanded that his photographers “Astonish me!” He helped launch Helburn’s career in 1949, with nine pages in Junior Bazaar.
Helburn quickly became a first-call advertising photographer and a star at Doyle Dane Bernbach, the agency that launched the industry’s “creative revolution.” Helburn worked for prestigious magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, Life, Esquire, Town and Country, Charm and Glamour. His many prints include signature images of classic models including Jean Patchett, Dovima, Suzy Parker, Jean Shrimpton and Sunny Griffin. Helburn continued to work as a fashion and advertising photographer through the early 1980s before turning to film. He began selling fine art prints of his photography in 2011.
William Helburn is represented by Lilly Global Media. His fine art prints are exhibited and sold by the Staley-Wise Gallery in New York City, the Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica, California, Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta, Georgia and the Robert Klein Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts.