A teenage portfolio of more than 350 previously unseen photos of The Beatles’ early invasion of America has fetched $358,477 (Dh1.3 million) at auction on Merseyside.
The photographer Mike Mitchell’s images show the band arriving in 1964 for their first concerts in the states at Washington and Baltimore. Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who was knighted recently, are also shown at pre-show press conferences and on stage.
A total lot of 413 negatives were sold with copyright for $358,477 by Omega Auctions and only 46 of these pictures had been seen before, at auction in 2011.
Mitchell, who was 18 at the time, had wanted to photograph the Fab Four after watching their famous television performance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. He said: “I was very motivated to come up with stuff that was as unique as could possibly be.”
He took shots of the band as they arrived for their first US concert at the Washington Coliseum two days later, using natural light because he could not afford a flash. He was there again when they played the Baltimore Civic Centre on September 13, even getting on to the stage to secure a better view.
“I looked and noticed that nobody was up on the stage. I thought, I wonder what it would be like to be up on the stage and see what I could get up there,” he said.
