McCartney Times

Remembering Astrid Kirchherr, the Woman Who First Photographed the Beatles—and Gave Them Their Moptops Photos | W Magazine

Remembering Astrid Kirchherr, the Woman Who First Photographed the Beatles—and Gave Them Their Moptops Photos | W Magazine

Remembering Astrid Kirchherr, the Woman Who First Photographed the Beatles—and Gave Them Their Moptops Photos | W Magazine
April 09
11:15 2018
The Beatles will forever be known as the original boy band, a status they achieved only a few years after forming in Liverpool in 1960, when fangirls started fawning over John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. But before Starr joined the group in 1962, when Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best were still around, the men—or, rather, boys—owed a major part of their success to a woman: Astrid Kirchherr, a German photographer who first stumbled upon them when she heard music coming from a club in her hometown of Hamburg. After flattering them with a request to photograph the group, leading to a trip to a local fairground that would produce their first-ever group photo, she became intimately close to its members: She was, for example, the one to first cut their hair into their iconic mop tops, which were initially favored by the local German boys Kirchherr grew up around. Her photos of The Beatles, which are now collected in a new book published by Damiani, Astrid Kirchherr with the Beatles, though, lamentably end too early: As the group found more and more fame, Kirchherr began to resent being known as “the Beatles’ photographer” and consistently having her other work dismissed, in part because she was a rare woman in the field. Decades later, though, it’s finally getting recognition, along with her influence on the band’s image, from how her relationship with Sutcliffe, the so-called “Fifth Beatle,” led to him wearing her clothes, to how she styled their first professional photo shoot. Take a look at her impact, here.

Astrid Kirchherr, Self Portrait, 1960.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

1/8

Astrid Kirchherr, Self Portrait, 1960.

Astrid Kirchherr, John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe and George Harrison on a truck at the Fairground, 1960.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

2/8

Astrid Kirchherr, John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe and George Harrison on a truck at the Fairground, 1960.

Astrid Kirchherr, John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe at the Fairground, 1960.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

3/8

Astrid Kirchherr, John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe at the Fairground, 1960.

Astrid Kirchherr, The Beatles Fairground, 1960.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

4/8

Astrid Kirchherr, The Beatles Fairground, 1960.

Astrid Kirchherr, The Beatles on Set at "A Hard Day’s Night", 1964.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

5/8

Astrid Kirchherr, The Beatles on Set at “A Hard Day’s Night”, 1964.

Astrid Kirchherr, John in Bowler Hat, 1964.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

6/8

Astrid Kirchherr, John in Bowler Hat, 1964.

Astrid Kirchherr, Boys Outside of The Cavern Club, 1964.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

7/8

Astrid Kirchherr, Boys Outside of The Cavern Club, 1964.

Max Scheler, Astrid Kirchherr in front of The Cavern Club in Liverpool, 1964.

Photo by Astrid Kirchherr. Courtesy of Damiani, 2017

8/8

Max Scheler, Astrid Kirchherr in front of The Cavern Club in Liverpool, 1964.

Source: Remembering Astrid Kirchherr, the Woman Who First Photographed the Beatles—and Gave Them Their Moptops Photos | W Magazine

About Author

Martin Nethercutt

Martin Nethercutt

Martin A Nethercutt is a writer, singer, producer and loves music. Creative Director at McCartney Studios Editor-in-Chief at McCartney Times Creator-in-Chief at Geist Musik President (title) at McCartney Multimedia, Inc. Went to Albert-Schweitzer-Schule Kassel Lives in Playa del Rey From Kassel, Germany Married to Ruth McCartney

Related Articles

0 Comments

No Comments Yet!

There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?

Write a comment

Only registered users can comment.