Helena on life and turning 50
One of the original supermodels, these days, her passion lies on the other side of the camera
Some people were “influencers” decades before the term was coined. One of the original supermodels, Helena Christensen, now 49, has weathered three decades as a household name, and sounds as laid-back talking about her stellar career as she might be discussing the local library rota.
Perhaps it’s because, finally, she’s no longer seen as just “a model”. Although Christensen has been a committed photographer since her twenties, her work is becoming more widely recognised.
“I only really started modelling because I was a photographer,” she explains. “The two careers have been running parallel all my life — it’s been very symbiotic.” She makes it sound simple; yet in the new climate of #MeToo and #TimesUp, fashion is currently one of the most tainted industries. Did she never experience anything untoward? Her warm, sing-song tone frosts over.
“I don’t really want to get into all of that,” she states. “All I’m going to say: it’s a really great time for women to support each other and stand up for what you believe — to
be honest and true to yourself.”
Christensen herself is a beacon of inner confidence — it’s hard to imagine her ever being forced into anything she doesn’t want to do.
“As a model, you have to have a hell of a lot of confidence in yourself, and feel what’s right for you,” she says. “That’s what I did my whole career, and I made mistakes but I also made great choices.”
Much of her certainty, she thinks, is down to her upbringing. “Having come from a very tight-knit, loving family, and having parents who allowed me and my sister to be ourselves, fully loved but with a lot of discipline — it was a very well-balanced childhood,” she says.
“It was about speaking up for yourself, and being very passionate and curious about life, but also confident and independent.”
What does she think about the pressures of social media? She is the owner of a beautifully curated Instagram account, documenting aspects of her life, “it’s like a visual diary”.
“When I’m 100, I can go back and look at my life. But the biggest issue for me is how time-consuming it is,” she admits. “I think, how much time is taken out of these young people’s lives because they’re so dependent on their phones?”
Her son Mingus, now 18, “doesn’t really need my advice any more”, she laughs. But, she adds, “it’s so important, as a parent, to make sure the time spent on a computer is equalised with time in nature, physical activities, great movies, reading books, art.”
Her own mothering, Christensen says, is also a balance. “I’m oldfashioned in some ways, but in others, completely free-spirited. The apple doesn’t fall far.”
Although Mingus has modelled on the Calvin Klein catwalk, she adds: “I don’t really think it’s going to be for him, but he can definitely see the appeal of setting up a little money for his studies. He has a great sense of humour and loves music, so I think, OK, I did my job.”
She turns 50 this year, and though she refuses to discuss ageing (“ask me when I’m 90, and in a home”, she says, crossly), with her son now having reached adulthood, she has more freedom than ever.
It is photography, though, that continues to excite her. “Once you
get into photography, there’s no limit, there’s visuals everywhere around you,” she says. “Everything changes depending on what day you look at things, what light you look in. I’m extremely grateful that I found something that will never bore me,” she adds.