The Beatles have confirmed the death of their photographer Robert Freeman. John Lennon‘s widow Yoko Ono tweeted when he died, “Every tragedy made me know. Every happiness made me grow.” Ozzy Osbourne revealed what John Lennon made him feel in his bedroom.
Lennon’s social media post, “ROBERT FREEMAN RIP. Sending love, peace and gratitude to the family of the great Robert Freeman, friend and photographer for @TheBeatles, who shot the covers for With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles For Sale, Help! and Rubber Soul as well as John’s books In His Own Write and A Spaniard In The Works.
Neil Aspinall: John lived upstairs from Robert Freeman when he moved down to London. Robert had just got out of art school, and John got him doing the album cover. They all told him the sort of effect that they wanted and he achieved it very well. From then on, they were involved with all aspects of album artwork.
Robert Freeman, ‘When I first met The Beatles it was in a hotel in Bournemouth (on 22 Aug 1963) and nationwide fame hadn’t quite reached them. Old ladies were surrounding them and asking questions. The Beatles all assumed Oxford accents and every time they were asked questions like, How old are you? they would give their age and ask, And how old are you?’
For the cover of their next album, I suggested a black and white photograph. The boys liked the idea and the session was set up for noon the following day in the hotel dining room. The large windows let in a bright sidelight and the dark maroon velvet curtains were pulled round as a backdrop. We decided to use the black turtleneck sweaters, which they were wearing at the time, to keep the picture simple. Ringo was placed in the bottom right corner, as he was the last to join the group. He had to kneel on a stool to be comfortable in the right position for the shot.
By 1965, it was becoming very difficult to get the four together for a photo session. The photograph for Rubber Soul, the last album cover in which I was involved, was taken in the garden of John’s house in Weybridge, the central point for three of them. The distorted effect in the photo was a reflection of the changing shape of their lives.” An eerie John Lennon divorce photo was recently revealed.
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