A Forgotten Photographer: Stunning Fashion Photography by William Helburn in the 1950s and 1960s

Friday, May 20, 2022

William (Bill) Helburn (b. 1924) is an American fashion photographer, and contemporary of Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, and Lillian Bassman. He was at the top of his profession from the early 1950s through the 1960s, with bylined covers and editorial images in the pages of Harper's Bazaar, LIFE, McCall's, and many other magazines.

Classic beauties taken by William Helburn in the 1950s and 1960s

Helburn also 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.

Throughout his career Helburn strove to grab the viewer's attention, contextualizing his models in images that jumped off the page. Helburn's first work in photography came at the close of World War II, when he was part of the team that processed the first pictures of the atom bomb exploding over Hiroshima.

Inspired soon after by then-partner Ted Croner's encounter with model Lisa Fonssagrives posing naked on skis, Helburn entered the fashion world in 1947, shooting neophyte models like Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren, while studying graphic design with legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch.

Helburn became a successful director of TV Commercials in the early 1980s. He left the industry a decade later to raise his children, and currently resides in New England.

These stunning photos are part of his work that Helburn shot famous beauties in the 1950s and 1960s.

Joanna McCormick, photo by William Helburn, 1951

Dorian Leigh, photo by William Helburn, 1955

Suzy Parker poses lying in a bed with white linens, cosmetic advertisement for Revlon, New York, circa 1955

'Dovima Under the El' ('Dior Creates Cosmopolitan Drama'), photo by William Helburn, 1956

Norman Norell and Dovima wearing his Roman-striped version of his famous sequin evening gown, photo by William Helburn, LIFE, October 8, 1956

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Marilyn Monroe Working Out at the Bel Air Hotel in 1953

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

In 1945 Hungarian-Romanian photographer Andre de Dienes met the nineteen-year-old Marilyn Monroe, then called Norma Jeane Baker, who was a model on the books of Emmeline Snively’s Blue Book Model Agency

Norma Jeane had recently separated from her husband, James Dougherty, and told Dienes of her wish to become an actress. Dienes suggested that they go on a road trip to photograph her in the natural landscapes, for which Dienes paid her a flat fee of $200.

Dienes next met her on Labor Day in 1946, with her new name of Marilyn Monroe, they next worked together in 1952, where he shot her at the Bel Air Hotel and 1953, where she telephoned him at 2am, and took him to a darkened street where he used his car headlights to illuminate her, taking pictures her wide-eyed and unmade up. Dienes last saw her alive in June 1961.

These photos were taken by Hungarian-Romanian photographer Andre de Dienes at Bel Air Hotel in 1953, showing the beautiful Marilyn Monroe working out — or not really — and keeping herself in tip-top shape. De Dienes was also among the first photographers who photographed Marilyn during her early modeling days, notably the 1949 pin-up series taken at Long Island’s Tobay Beach in New York.

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Italian Classic Beauty: Gorgeous Photos of Antonella Lualdi in the 1950s and 1960s

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Born 1931 in Beirut, Lebanon to an Italian father and a Greek mother, actress and singer Antonella Lualdi grew up fluent in Arabic, French and Italian. She began her career in 1949, after having won a contest for new talents of the cinema magazine Hollywood, in which she was presented as "Signorina X" ("Madam X"), inviting the readers to choose her stage name.

After having starred with Italian actor Franco Interlenghi in several films, Lualdi married him in 1955; the couple had two daughters, Stella and Antonellina, an actress in her own right.

Lualdi appeared in many Italian and French films in the 1950s and 1960s, notably in Claude Autant-Lara's film The Red and the Black in 1954.

In 1974, Lualdi debuted in France as a singer with some success and critical appreciation, then she also debuted on stage with the comedy Le Moulin de la Gallette, with which she toured across several European countries.

These gorgeous photos captured portraits of this beautiful woman from the 1950s and 1960s.

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15 Classic Beauties Who Knew to Rock a Swimsuit in the 1950s

Monday, May 13, 2019

History of swimwear traces the changes in the styles of swimwears over time and between cultures, and touches on the social, religious and legal attitudes to swimming and swimwear.

The '50s was truly the decade of swimwear glamour! Most women however stuck with the one piece swimwear. Except celebrities and pin-up girls, women in this period rarely wore a daring two piece bikini.

Anyway, swimwear is really the best costume to show the beauty of a woman. Here below are 15 classic beauties who knew to rock a swimsuit in the 1950s.

Brigitte Bardot

Diana Dors

Doris Day

Elizabeth Taylor

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Jane Russell: One of Hollywood's Leading Sex Symbols in the 1940s and 1950s

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Born 1921 in Bemidji, Minnesota, American film actress Jane Russell moved to California, where she had her first film role in 1943 in The Outlaw.

In 1947, Russell delved into music before returning to films. After starring in several films in the 1950s, including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953, Russell again returned to music while completing several other films in the 1960s. She starred in more than 20 films throughout her career.

Russell married three times, adopted three children, and in 1955 founded Waif, the first international adoption program. She received several accolades for her achievements in films, including having her hand and footprints immortalized in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Russell died at her home in Santa Maria of a respiratory-related illness in 2011, at the age of 89.

Take a look at these glamorous photos to see the beauty of Jane Russell from the 1940s and 1950s.

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30 Rare Color Photographs of a Young and Beautiful Brigitte Bardot in the 1950s

Monday, May 6, 2019

Brigitte Bardot is a French dancer, model and actress who became an international icon in the 1950s and ’60s with films like And God Created Woman and Contempt.

Bardot was born on September 28, 1934 to wealthy bourgeois parents, and at the age of 15 she posed for the cover of Elle (May 8, 1950).

Roger Vadim, an aspiring director, was impressed and shrewdly fashioned her public and screen image as an erotic child of nature—blond, sensuous, and amoral. In two motion pictures directed by Vadim—Et Dieu créa la femme (1956; And God Created Woman) and Les Bijoutiers du claire de lune (1958; “The Jewelers of Moonlight”; Eng. title The Night Heaven Fell)—Bardot broke contemporary film taboos against nudity and set box office records in Europe and the United States.

Below is a collection of 30 stunning color photographs of a very young Brigitte Bardot in the 1950s:

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