I am the Paulrus
Jun 24, 2006, 10:05 AM
Magical mystery of Beatles photo
24 June 2006
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3710324a1860,00.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/common/imageViewer/0,1445,242607,00.jpg
IF THE CAP FITS: The Fab Four ham it up in Wellington's Hotel St George in 1964. But who took the photograph?
Won't you please, please help me ... those famous words from the Fab Four have been uppermost in Richard Woodd's mind for longer than he cares to remember.
Now, almost 42 years after the Beatles' frenzied arrival in Wellington as part of a concert tour, the words have taken on a new urgency.
Mr Woodd, a former Wellingtonian now working in New Plymouth, is desperate for help to identify who took this rare colour photo of the Beatles relaxing.
He believes it has never been published and he has spent nearly a decade seeking the person who snapped the group hamming it up for the camera at Wellington's Hotel St George. Mr Woodd acquired it after a cleanout of a photographic studio in the late 1990s.
"The print is probably off a 2x2-inch negative taken with a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad. It's the best photograph of the Beatles I have ever seen.
"Judging by their wristwatches, it was taken at 7.30pm in a room at the St George (note the curtains)."
Ringo, Paul and George are wearing New Zealand schoolboy caps, possibly from a Wellington school. John is wearing a mortarboard.
Mr Woodd has searched the Internet, advertised in various media and tracked down photographer Vic McLennan, who was among the media corps parked up at the hotel waiting for the band to arrive.
"He told me very few photographers would have been allowed into their suite . . . and that most photographers were shooting with black and white film" – suggesting it could have been taken by someone in the tour party or from overseas.
The prized photo is the closest Mr Woodd came to the Fab Four, as he did not attend the concert. "I was working in Palmerston North as a journo for The Dominion. I was probably too broke to buy a ticket."
24 June 2006
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3710324a1860,00.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/common/imageViewer/0,1445,242607,00.jpg
IF THE CAP FITS: The Fab Four ham it up in Wellington's Hotel St George in 1964. But who took the photograph?
Won't you please, please help me ... those famous words from the Fab Four have been uppermost in Richard Woodd's mind for longer than he cares to remember.
Now, almost 42 years after the Beatles' frenzied arrival in Wellington as part of a concert tour, the words have taken on a new urgency.
Mr Woodd, a former Wellingtonian now working in New Plymouth, is desperate for help to identify who took this rare colour photo of the Beatles relaxing.
He believes it has never been published and he has spent nearly a decade seeking the person who snapped the group hamming it up for the camera at Wellington's Hotel St George. Mr Woodd acquired it after a cleanout of a photographic studio in the late 1990s.
"The print is probably off a 2x2-inch negative taken with a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad. It's the best photograph of the Beatles I have ever seen.
"Judging by their wristwatches, it was taken at 7.30pm in a room at the St George (note the curtains)."
Ringo, Paul and George are wearing New Zealand schoolboy caps, possibly from a Wellington school. John is wearing a mortarboard.
Mr Woodd has searched the Internet, advertised in various media and tracked down photographer Vic McLennan, who was among the media corps parked up at the hotel waiting for the band to arrive.
"He told me very few photographers would have been allowed into their suite . . . and that most photographers were shooting with black and white film" – suggesting it could have been taken by someone in the tour party or from overseas.
The prized photo is the closest Mr Woodd came to the Fab Four, as he did not attend the concert. "I was working in Palmerston North as a journo for The Dominion. I was probably too broke to buy a ticket."