“Some of the more interesting pictures were down by the Thames, and I was always
looking for the serious mood shots. John suddenly dropped to the ground and closed
his eyes, pretending to be dead. I have no idea why he decided to do that. The Beatles
laughed - nothing for me. Then they went deadly serious. John had his eyes closed and
the rest looked on with very serious expressions. One for me. George put on John’s glasses
and Ringo felt his forehead. John opened his eyes - another frame for me. The whole
incident was over in seconds. I really don’t think they had planned it beforehand.
The boys were getting on really well that day. I know it was reported at the time that
they weren’t but all I saw were four boys having a great time. Yoko was just out of shot
and joining in with the japes too.
It’s weird now to look at this image. How were any of us to know what would happen
12 years later? I was actually in New York then. This photograph was considered for
the cover of Time in December 1980, but in the end they decided it was too spooky.”
