Monday 13 June 2016

Yesterday: The "Beatles" Once Upon a Time by Astrid Kirchherr & Max Scheler


Photographer Astrid Kirchherr met The Beatles in Hamburg in 1960 when they were a struggling band, playing seedy clubs on the Reeperbahn. Four years later, the band was at the centre of the worldwide phenomenon of Beatlemania when Astrid, accompanied by photojournalist Max Scheler, travelled to London and Liverpool to meet them and took the photographs that appear in this book. Astrid’s friendship with the group allowed for unrivalled access and a collection of intimate photographs, rarely seen until now. 

They capture The Beatles in private, on set during the filming of A Hard Day’s Night, and in very public moments when they were confronted with their own fame. Yesterday is a stunning collection of images, and a moving testament to the inspirational effect of The Beatles’ success on their hometown, as well as an historic account of the band’s meteoric rise to superstardom.

From NPR's January 15 interview with Astrid Kirchherr

"The first time I met the Beatles was through my former boyfriend... who saw them one night when he was wandering around Hamburg, and then he heard this beautiful sound of rock and roll music and he went down into a quite dark, filthy cellar where these boys were standing on a very, very tiny stage and [performing] in such a way that he was absolutely--let's call it knocked out--by their music, and by their looks, and everything around it. So he told me about it.... I just said, alright, I'll come with you. So we went there, and when I went down the stairs and looked at the stage, I was just amazed at how beautiful these boys looked. It was a photographer's dream.... Then, when I heard the music, it was even more fantastic for me.... After that first night, I went nearly every night to see them and that's how it started.... I asked them if they were willing that I take their pictures, and they [jumped] up and down with joy."




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