Harry Benson
Beatles Composing Times Three, Paris
1964

About the Item

Edition of 35 From their time as the Quarrymen through to their final days as a group, the Beatles' creative heart was always in John and Paul who functioned as the group's primary songwirters and composers. Harry Benson was fortunate enough to be assigned to accompany the Beatles on their first trip to Paris where they stayed at the Hotel George V. Paul and John went over to room's piano and began composing what would become "I Feel Fine". George and Ringo eventually came over and joined in as Harry Benson looked on and photographed the creation of the now-legendary song. Benson gives the viewer a rare glimpse of the Beatles in their more innocent, early days, before their biggest breaks, composing songs now woven into fabric of modern music. The intensity of the Beatles' creativity is as obvious as the joy that creating these songs brought them.

Creator:
Harry Benson (1929, Scottish)
Creation Year:
1964
Dimensions:
Height: 49.5 in (125.73 cm)Width: 21 in (53.34 cm)
Medium:
Archival Pigment
Period:
1960-1969
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Greenwich, CT
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU18111479242
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Harry Benson

Iconic photographer Harry Benson has captured some of the most pivotal moments in modern history. Always in the right place at the right time, Benson used his camera lens to give the world a glimpse into events that rocked the globe. His black and white and color photographs include shots of celebrities, politicians, royalty, political upheavals and social revolutions. His contributions to photography are widely celebrated and recognized.

One of the first highlights of Benson's career was touring with the Beatles in February of 1964. While at the Hotel George V in Paris, he snapped the famous images of the band having a playful pillow fight. Benson stayed in America after the Beatles' first visit to the States and started working for Life in 1968. He was under contract with the magazine from 1970 to 2000.

Benson was on assignment for Life during the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy — just steps behind the senator when it occurred. After the shot rang out, Benson told himself, "this is for history, pull yourself together, fail tomorrow, not today," and documented the moment that Kennedy lay on the floor.

In 1989, Benson photographed the student protests in Tiananmen Square and the fall of the Berlin Wall. He was with President Clinton on his historic visit to Kosovo in 1999 and captured New York City in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Benson has also photographed every president since Eisenhower and taken numerous images of Queen Elizabeth II.

Over the course of his long career, Benson's photographs have appeared in Town & Country, Vanity Fair, Time, GQ, Newsweek, Vice, Architectural Digest and more. His works are held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Benson has earned extensive accolades for his work in photography. The National Press Photographers Association twice named him “Magazine Photographer of the Year.” He has also received several lifetime achievement awards, an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Glasgow University and The University of St. Andrews, and an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of authentic Harry Benson photography.