Born in New York City in 1924, Helburn studied drawing at The Art Students League before enlisting in the Army Air Force in World War 2. Assigned to a photo unit in the South Pacific, Helburn learned to make contact sheets and develop film, including the first pictures of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. Back in New York Helburn was inspired to become a fashion photographer after roommate and future photographer Ted Croner described encountering model Lisa Fonssagrives posing naked in the snow, in a test shoot for her then-husband Fernand.
A visit to Fonssagrives studio led first to work shooting tests for aspiring models, then an opportunity to enroll in Harper’s Bazaar Art Director Alexey Brodovitch’s Design Laboratory, a workshop for aspiring photographers and graphic designers. Photographers in Helburn’s study group included Milt Greene, Robert Frank, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus and Richard Avedon. His studies with Brodovitch led to Helburn’s first major assignment, a ten-page editorial shoot in the March 1949 edition of Bazaar.
Helburn soon became recognized for his creative gifts, both in the fashion world and with the advertising agencies that led the industry’s creative revolution. For decades, Helburn’s “do it different” and “shock value” aesthetic was much in demand. Combining elements of humour, luxury, sex, great style and the absurd, Helburn’s images appeared frequently in ads and editorial pages in magazines including Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker, Charm, Esquire, Life and Town & Country.
Helburn developed close relationships with many of the reigning models of the day, including Dovima and Jean Patchett in the 1950s and Jean Shrimpton in the 1960s. He enjoyed a special friendship with actress Sharon Tate, whom he described as “a fabulous, wonderful girl.”
Along with a passion for beautiful women and the high life, Helburn loved fast cars – particularly Ferraris. He raced, either independently or for Team Ferrari, at tracks including Watkins Glen, Havana, and Sebring in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Helburn admitted that while he loved the scene, “I wasn’t a fast driver. I was a fast photographer-driver.” Auto-makers reciprocated his appreciation for their machines - Helburn photographed for major American and European firms, from Buick, Chrysler, Ford and Cadillac to Jaguar, Triumph, Auto Union and Opel.
Helburn remained active into the 1980s, both as a fashion and advertising photographer and directing and shooting television commercials. His work has been exhibited in museums, group and individual shows in cities including New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Palm Beach. Helburn’s first book, published in 2014, is “William Helburn – Seventh and Madison''.
William Helburn died in November 2020, in Connecticut. He was 96.