The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Rare Fab Four photos expected to be snapped up for £250,000
Images taken by teenage photographer of the group’s first US concerts are to go under the hammer
A teenage photographer’s shots of The Beatles’ first US concerts are expected to sell for £250,000 at auction.
Mike Mitchell, just 18 at the time, snapped hundreds of never before seen photographs of the band’s performances at the Washington Coliseum and the Baltimore Civic Centre in 1964.
He also attended a press conference ahead of the Washington performance – their first in the US – and the band’s arrival at Union Station.
One shot, taken from behind, shows the back of each of the Fab Four’s heads other than John Lennon who is turned to the side talking to his bandmates.
The negatives, taken only with ambient light since Mitchell had no flash, sat for decades in his basement until they were fully realised as luminous records with the emergence of digital technology.
The complete archive is made up of more than 400 negatives from the two concerts – 46 of which were seen for the first time in 2011 when they were digitally restored as high quality prints and sold at a Christie’s auction in New York for an accumulated $362,000 (£224,000).
The entire collection, including the negatives and copyright of the those sold in New York, are to be unveiled and sold at a Beatles auction in Merseyside later this month.
Apart from the 46 images used in 2011, the remainder have never been seen.
Omega auctioneer Paul Fairweather labelled the collection an “incredible archive”. He added: “The unique combination of perspective and light sets them apart from any other Beatles photographs of that period.
“This was reflected in prices achieved for a small selection of prints in 2011, so for the entire archive to be sold with copyright, this is a unique opportunity for collectors and investors alike,” he said.
The photos will go under the hammer as part of Omega Auctions’ Beatles Auction on March 24.
They are arguably the most famous faces in pop music history so who would have thought 2018 would bring us pictures of The Beatles as we’ve never seen them before?
A 54-year-old collection of photographs of the Fab Four, taken by a teenage fan on their first US concert tour, is expected to fetch £250,000 at auction. In this era of smartphone snaps and selfies, it’s good to be reminded that there’s a value in keeping some things under wraps.