Harry Benson has led a life that could induce insecurity in even the most confident of men. The Glasgow-born photographer was on the scene when the Berlin Wall fell, marched with Martin Luther King Jr and was inches away from Bobby Kennedy’s assassination.
But the project he’s still best known for, and the subject of sumptuous new book Harry Benson — The Beatles, is his historic work on the Fab Four’s breakthrough tours of the US and Europe. Although some of the images are familiar, Benson also raided his archives for alternate shots from the iconic shoots.
As well as the intimate monochrome snaps, there are recollections from the author — he reminisces about Muhammad Ali “bragging and clowning around” and how “aloof” the French were to The Beatles during their 1964 visit.
With two shelf-hoggingly huge silver hardback ‘Art’ editions that cost £1,000, and a standard £450 collector’s edition limited to 1,764 copies, you can expect a Beatlemania-style clamour in bookshops. Shrieking and fainting is, of course, optional.
Harry Benson — The Beatles is out in May. Pre-order at Taschen.com
