Photographer Profile ~ Harry Benson

From the arrival of The Beatles in the United States, to Richard Nixon's resignation, to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Harry Benson's camera has captured many of the most important events in recent history, and his photos have become some of the most enduring images in popular culture. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Benson began his career as a wedding photographer.

His first newspaper job was with the Hamilton Advisor, the largest weekly newspaper in Scotland. He then rose to prominence in the London newspaper world, working for the London Daily Sketch and the London Daily Express, which later assigned him to cover The Beatles in the United States. He followed them to New York and never went home. He later became an American citizen and married a woman from Seguin, Texas.

Soon after coming to the United States, Benson began working for a variety of prominent American magazines, including Life, People, Vanity Fair, Newsweek and the New Yorker. It is for these publications that Benson has taken many of his most well-known photos and earned a reputation for always being in the right place at the right time. Benson has staged more than 35 one-man exhibitions and has also published several books of his work, including Harry Benson: Fifty Years in Pictures and Once There Was a Way, a collection of his photos of The Beatles.

Christie's is Auctioning Never Before Published Photos of the Beatles Today

Today, Tuesday July 20, Christie's is auctioning never before published photos of the Beatles by photographer Mike Mitchell. He was just 18 at the time when he photographed the band. The black and white collection is expected to fetch an estimated $100,000. This silhouette of "The Fab Four" is estimated to sell for $2,000 - $3,000. Source: Christies

****Update July 22 2011****

The  Beatles photos of the band ended up selling for $360,000, which was more than 300% their estimate value! I though tthe estimate seemed low but wow!

The Beatles Photographer ~ Astrid Kirchherr

Astrid Kirchherr is best known for her photographs of the Beatles during the early Hamburg days and for her association with the Beatles' original bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe whom she was later engaged to before his death in 1962.  Kirchherr rode with Sutcliffe in an ambulance after he collapsed one day due to a brain heaemorrage, but he died in her arms before it reached the hospital. He was just 21 years old.

self portrait

Astrid with her Leica

George, John and the "Fifth Beatle" Stuart in the middle

Astrid with Lennon and Ringo

Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with coming up with the name "The Beatles"

Astrid self portrait with Stuart Sutcliffe

Sutcliffe, the James Dean of the Beatles

 Stuart Sutcliffe

 Astrid & Stuart Sutcliffe

 Stuart Sutcliffe earned praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism. He enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art after leaving The Beatles, and studied under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi.

Stuart Sutcliffe and George Harrison in Hamburg

Kirchherr admits that she is not good at business as she is not organized enough, and has never really looked after the negatives of her photographs to prove ownership. Her business partner Ulf Krüger—a songwriter and record producer—successfully found many of Astrid's negatives and photographs and had them copyrighted, although he believes that Kirchherr has lost more than £500,000 over the years because of people using her photographs without permission.


Kirchherr's work has been exhibited internationally in places, such as Hamburg, Bremen, London, Liverpool, New York City, Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Vienna, and at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.


Kirchherr worked as an advisor, in 1994, on the film Backbeat, which portrayed Kirchherr, Sutcliffe and The Beatles during their early days in Hamburg. She was impressed with Stephen Dorff (who played Sutcliffe in the film) commenting that he was the right age (19-years-old at the time) and his gestures, the way he smoked, and talked were so like Sutcliffe's that she had goose bumps.