New Book Collects George Harrison's Photographs
A new volume gathers candid photographs taken by the Beatles guitarist, offering a relaxed and personal view of the band and its travels.
A new book brings together photographs taken by George Harrison, offering a candid and personal view of the Beatles that departs from the polished imagery usually associated with the band. The volume, titled The Third Eye, collects snapshots Harrison made throughout his travels and daily life, capturing moments that are informal, playful, and often revealing.
Harrison was not the only Beatle drawn to photography. In the 1964 film A Hard Day's Night, it is Ringo who wanders the back streets of London with a camera in hand. Paul McCartney was arguably the most technically accomplished behind the lens, as demonstrated by his 2023 portfolio 1964: Eyes of the Storm. But Harrison was no stranger to the art, even if, as George Saunders remarks in his afterword, «They're snapshots, really, made by a talented young guy with a new toy.»
That «new toy» changed from time to time. At one point Harrison acquired a fish-eye lens and snapped everything in sight with it, exulting, «everything looks mad through it!» His wife, Olivia Harrison, writes that her husband used the camera as «a benign shield and playful way to deflect attention that followed him wherever he went.» The cameras—a Pentax SLR, a Polaroid SX-70, and many others—also provided an archive that is much more relaxed than the usual run of Beatles-related photos.
Among the most striking images are those shot at the band's 1968 retreat in Rishikesh, India. There, Paul McCartney looks all of 12 years old, earnestly shaving; John Lennon experiences a characteristic agony of the acoustic guitarist, trying to get a dropped pick out of the instrument; and Ringo Starr shows off some impressively white teeth in a madcap grin. The self-portraits are welcome, too, the best of them showing a kid who seems thrilled by most of life, whether geeking out in Tahiti with what appears to be a strand of kelp or snapping the band horsing around at a Miami swimming pool.
The photographs gathered here attest to Harrison's own explanation for his interest: «I like cameras because you can see things in a different way, and you can make things look how they feel instead of how they are.» That philosophy runs through the collection, which captures not just the famous faces but the mood and texture of a remarkable period. The result is an intimate portrait of a musician whose eye for the offbeat and the unguarded has now been preserved in book form.
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