Ringo Starr Reveals Rare Intimate Shots of the Beatles in New Photographic Print Series
THE PHOTOGRAPH PORTFOLIO 2017
Throughout the whirlwind journey of Beatlemania and beyond, Ringo Starr usually had a camera at the ready. “We always had a professional photographer to take photos of us, but I just loved taking pictures and I still do,” he says. By snapping shots of his friends and band mates, Starr managed to capture history—and an intimate look inside a cultural phenomenon. The drumming legend exhibited his prowess behind the lens with the lavish 2013 book Photograph, and now he’s unveiled a series of prints containing rare, and in some cases unseen, pictures. The PHOTOGRAPH Portfolio 2017 is a collection of museum-quality prints, reproduced from the negative for the first time. Created in small artist editions of only 25 numbered copies, each print is signed by Starr himself, and comes with a certificate of authenticity. The prints are available for order through Genesis Publications (info@genesis-publications.com), with a portion of the sales going to benefit the Lotus Foundation — an organization that promotes charitable projects aimed at advancing social welfare. Take a look inside the PHOTOGRAPH Portfolio 2017, including commentary from Starr himself.
GEORGE
Backstage at the Hippodrome Theatre, Birmingham, November 1963 Ringo Starr: "Why would we have policemen's hats? Were we pretending to be policemen? I don't remember. But who's he going to fool? He's got his stage suit on."
PAUL
George V Hotel, Paris, January 1964 Ringo Starr: "Paul was always playing the piano."
PAUL AND MAL
George V Hotel, Paris, January 1964 Ringo Starr: "This is a fun shot of Paul and Mal Evans in France. When we were in hotels, we would just look for things to do and have a bit of fun. By looking at the table, you can see that we'd probably had a few drinks."
FIRST U.S. VISIT
New York, February 1964 Ringo Starr: "They're looking at us, and I'm photographing them. The first couple of years, we saw a lot of places from the car because we couldn't go out anywhere. We were just too big time. Everybody wanted a piece of us, so getting out was a big day."
OLD HICKORY
USA, February 1964 Ringo Starr: "When we were on the train from New York to Washington, the Press told us why we got such a great reception in America. They said, 'Ah, we came to kill you, but you gave as good as you got and we love that.' I walked to the back of the train and shot out of the back window. I like shots like this. It's very architectural."
MIAMI
Florida, February 1964 Ringo Starr: "We were on a boat in Florida. Somebody lent us their motor launch and we went out. They let me drive and I came in to port straight on! I didn't swing it sideways, and I broke the rail. But, if you were a Beatle, you could break the rails on anybody's boat in those days."
GEORGE IN MIAMI
Florida, February 1964 Ringo Starr: "As you can see, Paul had a camera and George had a camera — we all had cameras."
ABBEY ROAD
Abbey Road Studios, London, 1964 Ringo Starr: "The songs are still relevant; the kids are listening to the music today."
JOHN AND RINGO
Tobago, January 1966 Ringo Starr: "John, Cynthia, Maureen and I were on holiday in Tobago. There's the little pieces and the money that we used to play Monopoly."
GREECE
Greece, July 1967 Ringo Starr: "It's just that moment captured on film. I still carry a camera around but I usually take photos with digital cameras now."
JOHN AND PAUL
Recording "Hey Bulldog," Studio 3, Abbey Road Studios, February 1968 Ringo Starr: "In the studio with Paul and John, through a prism lens. I thought I was being very creative and very incredible. 'Nobody's ever going to do this,' or so I thought."
RINGO
Self Portrait, 1970s Ringo Starr: "I'm still wearing all my rings, and a St Francis necklace that my auntie got me. It was ripped off in New York. The fans didn't really attack us a lot — those kids just got lucky. We would go out quite a bit in those days, but it started getting really crazy later on."
