Helburn is one of the great fashion photographers of our time. A contemporary of Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, and Lillian Bassman, Helburn was at the top of his profession from the early 1950s through the 1960s, bylining covers and editorials in the pages of Harper’s Bazaar, LIFE, McCall’s, and many other magazines. Helburn worked extensively in advertising, contributing memorable pictures to campaigns designed by such legendary art directors as Gene Federico, Robert Gage, Helmut Krone, and George Lois.
Helburn photographed and socialized with the decade's most elegant women, including Dorian Leigh, Dovima, Suzy Parker, Jean Shrimpton, Angela Howard, Jean Patchett, Lauren Hutton, and Sharon Tate. Helburn became a successful director of TV commercials in the early 1980s. He left the industry a decade later to raise his children in England, where he still resides.