The Beatles' Breakout Moment: The Story Behind This Famous Throwback Photo
At first, photographer Harry Benson said no to taking pictures of The Beatles.
It was 1964 and the Scottish-born photojournalist wanted to travel to Uganda for a story about its newfound independence, not take pictures of some British rock-and-roll band on its way up, which his editor had asked him to cover.
“I knew who The Beatles were, but they hadn’t had their big breakthrough yet,” Benson, now 87, tells PEOPLE.
His trip to Africa was not to be. At 11 p.m., the night before Benson was set to fly there, his editor at The Daily Express in London called him and told him that indeed, the big boss was sending him to Paris the next morning to photograph the band.
Any reservations Benson had faded the minute he heard The Beatles sing All My Loving in Paris, where they were performing just before they headed to the United States for the first time.
“I thought, ‘S—. I’m on the right story! This is the right story!’ The following day they were number one, two and three in America. They became a phenomenon.”
So did Benson. With his laid-back, self-deprecating manner and knack for consistently capturing the perfect moment on film, Benson went on to become one of the world’s most renowned and prolific photographers.
By: K.C Baker
Source: People
