Ringo discovers thousands of undeveloped Beatles negatives

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Ringo Discovers Thousands of Undeveloped Beatles Negatives, Credits Himself For First “Selfie”
by Alisha Jackson
September 9, 2015


(JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Ringo just hit the motherload of Beatles memorabilia.
The former Beatle was recently forced to move some of his things in storage when he came across thousands of undeveloped negatives. The majority of the negatives contained images of Starr’s former band mates, George, Paul and John, including their first visit to the United States in 1964.
Sure, early photos of The Beatles aren’t hard to find, but the ones available to the public were mostly taken by the media. Ringo’s photos obviously come from a different perspective. Never to be duplicated, the drummer’s photos were taken while the band was living in their natural habitat, and Ringo’s convinced that his former band mates have or had similar personal collections of their own.


(JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

“If they’re listening … dig out the negatives,” Ringo said of Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Ringo was speaking at the gallery in support of his new book coming out, called Photograph, which will feature the new-found photos. While Ringo was excited to find these photos and share them with the world, he’s unfortunately not in most of them.
“The other boys had cameras too, so the next plan is I want to get the rest of my pictures, Paul’s pictures, Yoko will have John’s pictures, Olivia George’s … it would make a great book. I’ll be in a lot more photos,” Ringo joked. He clarified his seriousness by adding in, “If I put it out there, they might respond.”
So what did The Beatles look like in their natural habitat? Relaxed and unguarded. “These are shots that no one else could have taken.” Ringo said. “Together, they chart the story of four lads from Liverpool trying to live normal lives amidst the frenzy that surrounded them.”
The book, which features what Ringo claims as the first “selfie” ever taken on the cover, will be available on September 21st.







Ringo Starr at the launch of a book and exhibition of photographs he took throughout his life and with the Beatles. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

www.theguardian.com
Ringo Starr focuses on missing Beatles photos at launch of new book
Set of images recently found by drummer makes him think bandmates kept similar collections
Mark Brown 
Arts correspondent
Wednesday 9 September 2015

Ringo Starr has called on Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison to sift through their private photograph collections for a new Beatles project: “If they’re listening ... dig out the negatives,” he said.

Starr was speaking at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London, where a new display of recently found photographs that he took and then forgot about was going on public display.


The book features unguarded shots of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Photograph: Ringo Starr/National Portrait Gallery

They include images of his fellow Beatles larking around and relaxing, as well as photographs taken on the band’s first visit to the US in 1964.

The photographs are being published in a new book but Starr thinks there are many more fascinating pictures taken by his Beatles bandmates that could also be published.

“The other boys had cameras too, so the next plan is I want to get the rest of my pictures, Paul’s pictures, Yoko will have John’s pictures, Olivia George’s ... it would make a great book. I’ll be in a lot more photos.”

He added: “If I put it out there, they might respond.”


 George Harrison. Photograph: Ringo Starr/National Portrait Gallery

Starr said he discovered thousands of old negatives in boxes he hadn’t looked in for nearly 30 years. “I had a lot of stuff in storage and we had to move everything and I started finding books of negatives, a lot of them I didn’t know I still had.”

He said he had always been a keen photographer but was a late starter. “Growing up, we didn’t have cameras. I’ve got like six or seven photos from being christened until I was 18. Then I got into the cameras and now there is a lot of photos.”

Starr managed to get pictures of his bandmates looking relaxed and unguarded. “These are shots that no one else could have taken.” he said. “Together, they chart the story of four lads from Liverpool trying to live normal lives amidst the frenzy that surrounded them.”

There are 20 portraits going up in the display in the NPG’s bookshop. Each can be bought for £1,900 as part of a limited edition. The book is published on 21 September but can be bought beforehand from the NPG.

On the cover is a photograph of a young silky-haired Starr with a cigarette and camera taken looking directly into a mirror. “I like to say it is the first selfie,” he said.


Photograph by Ringo Starr is released on 21 September. Photograph: Ringo Starr/National Portrait Gallery