Benson’s time with the Beatles very nearly didn’t happen. Benson was ready to go to Africa to cover the first anniversary of independence in some of the former colonial states, when he was called to Paris at the last minute to photograph the Beatles on tour. He tried to get out of it, preferring the more serious assignment instead, but was overruled.
Luckily for Benson, the Beatles job turned his life around. Not only did he produce one of his most memorable pictures (the band members having an impromptu Pillow Fight upon learning that their single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was their first number one in America), but the band got him his first trip to America. A week after the pillow fight, Harry was on the plane to cover the Beatles’ first American tour as they flew to New York, photographing the screaming crowds and their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.
He decided to move to New York as a freelancer on a retainer from the Express, and has lived and worked there ever since.
