Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Fans photographs



I found this paragraph in Paul Wane's book Sgt. Peppers (which features fan taken photos of the Beatles outside of EMI during the recording of the Pepper album...amazing stuff!) I thought it was interesting and sort of put a new light on things for me.

A number of fans took photographs, these would normally be taken on an inexpensive, small Instamatic camera. the girls were just teenagers, some of whom only had pocket money, lack of funds meant that the girls would have to be very selective as to the way in which they used their limited amount of film. For those girls who could afford film the cost meant that they would have to make a choice as to which member or members of The Beatles they photographed. This would normally mean photographing their favourite Beatle, with the possible exception of a situation where a wide open opportunity of getting a great shot of another member of the group presented itself. One mildly regrettable consequence of the unswerving attention of the girls camera lens on The Beatles was that virtually every other major star or group who came to eMI in the late 60's either to record or visit a Beatle session was ignored! Even photos of Brian Epstein or George Martin arriving at EMI are practically non-existent. Nor did the fans cameras capture the sight of friends such as Mick Jagger or Twiggy visiting Paul's house in Cavendish Avenue. The girls only had eyes for the Beatles!

The overwhelming impression I derived from speaking to the fans who kept vigil outside of the studios in the late 60's was what a great time they had had waiting for The Beatles and what a positive effect it all had on their lives. In virtually every case the 60's are remembered by the fans as a period in their lives which thye look back on with warmth and enthusiasm, relishing the fact that they were around at that particular time. Most of the girls are still very strongly attached to their memories of their experiences with The Beatles. Many of them have remained friends and stayed in contact until this day, regularly corresponding with each other by email and sending each other greeting cards at birthdays and Christmas. I have listened to the girls, now women, recounting their memories and been fascinated and amused by their stories and ... oh yes, just a little envious!

2 comments:

  1. on the second photo, my dear friends maureen and gayleen. and paul wane is totally right. we had limited funds, film was expensive - and flashcubes too - so unfortunately i don't have one single photo of george martin or brian epstein. nor of the stones, donovan and other friends who might stop by. and most of my photos are of john.

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  2. Thing would have been so different today with digital cameras. I know that I take photos differently now than back when I only had film cameras. It is a shame that there hasn't been any fan photos of Brian appear. But yet I understand the reasoning.

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