LOST ARCHIVE OF BEATLES PHOTOS FOUND BY DIVER

Photograph of Bill Carlson

Besides the flurry of tales revolving around Paul McCartney’s new baby, or gossip on Heather Mills, there is, in fact, a story that is creating serious waves in the sea of Beatledom.

A lost archive of original Beatles photographs has been found.

Judged by your typical, diehard Beatles fan, storing unpublished, original photographs of the Fab Four for 40 years might be considered insane, if not a breach of a higher law. Indeed, people have been jailed for lesser crimes!

Enter Renaissance man, Bill Carlson. Assessing the arc of his lifelong pursuits -- which include still-photography, professional car racing, cave diving, and cinematography – one can readily understand his inadvertent breach of Beatle Law.

Carlson explains the 40-year time lapse matter-of-factly:

"Photographers are all about doing. They are always looking forward to their next project, or to their next shoot. It’s not about retrospection, which probably explains why I didn’t value what I did. There are images that I made 30-40 years ago that I should take a look at, chiefly because of their significance to others."

Interestingly, Bill Carlson’s day of capturing the 1965 Beatles’ arrival, press conference and concert in Minneapolis, had more to do with his need to find a variety of outlets for his photographic creativity, than a chance to see the Beatles.

"I was always looking for opportunities, whether it was political events, sporting events, car racing, or musical concerts. So, that’s really why I shot the Beatles, Nixon, and car racing, etc… I went to nearly everything in order to shoot film."

Mix in a few facts of how he happened upon his day with the Beatles, and the rest is history: "By that time (August of 1965), I was a part-time staff photographer at Merle Morris Studios, and was still in school. I remember the Telex coming in a couple of days before the concert – the press officers were blanketing the area trying to get as much publicity as possible. Basically, there was no interest from the other photographers at Morris. But for me, it just seemed like a cool event and I was scouting around for something interesting to shoot."

Did Carlson understand the cultural and historical relevance of photographing the Beatles that day in 1965? "I knew they were significant," he replies bluntly, "but my days were busy with shooting. You know, my career has changed so much -- from stills to film, from film to diving, to car racing – every day is a new challenge for me and so I haven’t really had a chance to look backward."

The Beatles concert that night at the Met Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota did not fill the arena. However, as fresh as the Beatles were to the American scene, the Beatles left a lasting impression on Bill, especially his brief chat with George Harrison. "I remember being pushed into a corner, near George. I had to come up with something to say, so I complimented him on the guitar he’d just received. I remember that he replied with something like, ‘Yeah. Lovely.’"

"As a kid, I always listened to classical musical and jazz. But coming away from shooting the Beatles, I became a fan."

A mere month ago, Bill Carlson experienced his first Beatles Fest in Secaucus, New Jersey, where he presented his unpublished Beatles images to a curious mob of 10,000 fans, all hungry for Beatle-o-bilia. When asked about the 3-day mania he replied, "It was such a gratifying experience for me, especially the warm reception by other photographers like Saltzman. This is really a fun community to be involved with, which was a surprise for me. We’ll definitely do the Beatles Fest again."

The ever-changing Bill Carlson can now add one more category to his list of enterprises – web maestro. Apparently, Carlson has decided to make the bulk of his previously unpublished Beatles photos available to the public.

He explains, "People at the Fest were so favorably impressed with my work. I really can’t sum up how much joy it gave to me to watch people react and value my images."

The award-winning photographer and cinematographer has finally found a springboard for his impressive library of photographic artwork. As if the treasure trove of Beatles images weren’t enough, Carlson has unpublished work of Louis Armstrong, the Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan, as well as photographs of professional car racing, Nixon, and former astronaut, Wally Schirra.

Image Details: Bill shot with a Hasselblad 500C, 80mm lens, ASA 800, utilizing Tri-X Pan 120. Bill also shot with a Nikon F, 135mm lens, ASA 800, utilizing Tri-X Pan 35mm.

For more information on these images and Bill Carlson, please visit www.f-stopproductions.com.

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