Ringo Starr: The Photographer

Photography Tips

You can associate a lot of things with the Beatles—the best rock band of all time, one of the very first bands to introduce psychedelia to rock and roll and maybe the first to experiment with diverse elements drawn from a wide genre of other musical fields—but photography? Believe it or not, there was one among the fab four who was probably close to being as passionate about photography as about music. He was the drummer, Ringo Starr:

This short film by Rolling Stone brings to light the photographer who had been hiding behind the curtain and showcases some of the most insightful images he took. Unsurprisingly, many of these were of the group that had rocked the world in the 1960s.

Paul McCartney

“There’s only like five photos of me from birth to 18, say. There wasn’t a lot of cameras in the family, and then I went camera mad.”

A natural left-hander, Starr was trained to become a righty by his family. But that didn’t help much, as he always found ‘rolling’ a bit tough with a right-hander’s equipment. One thing he had a lot of fun doing, however, was photography. This is despite the fact that there weren’t many cameras in the family when he was growing up. The photographer really came on to the scene during the Beatles days.

John Lennon

“Photography became my passion alongside playing, really. I like to do both.”

Some of Starr’s captures are probably the best photos of the group—an inside view before the band decided to part ways.