Legendary rock band The Beatles (Fab Four) member John Lennon just passed his 80th birthday, and this year will also mark the 40th anniversary of the contemporary music genius’s passing. Recently, his widow Yoko Ono returned to her hometown of Tokyo to hold an exhibition titled “DOUBLE FANTASY – John & Yoko,” sharing her late husband’s love for music, life, and society with the world, as well as the couple’s life together. Additionally, a photo album called “Dream Lovers” has been released, with John Lennon once again as the main focus. The album collects secret photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their time in New York, most of which have never been publicly disclosed.
Photographer Brian Hamill from the United States has been working in news photography and film stills for over 50 years. A rock music fan himself, he recently released the photo collection “Dream Lovers,” which includes several never-before-seen candid shots of John Lennon. Brian Hamill is not the official photographer for The Beatles or John Lennon, and has only had the privilege of photographing John Lennon three times in his career: at the 1972 Madison Square Garden concert, believed to be John Lennon’s last concert; and two separate occasions of close-up photoshoots with John Lennon and his wife. In “Dream Lovers,” these two very precious and challenging solo photoshoots are precisely compiled.
Brian Hamill recalled his first time shooting John Lennon in 1972. At that time, he had been working in news photography for nearly 7 years. In fact, he wasn’t nervous beforehand about the performance being different, “but this time was very important, John Lennon is my favorite member of The Beatles,” and he was still nervous because his idol was about to appear in front of him. According to Brian Hamill, the special thing about this shoot was that it only involved John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and himself. Brian Hamill, who has had experience with contacting superstars, said he never imagined that such a significant superstar would agree to the shoot without any assistants, managers, or bodyguards – knowing that the shoot was going to take place in the neighborhood near John Lennon’s home, where John Lennon and his wife needed to walk freely on the streets.
“When I arrived at their residence on Bank Street and introduced myself by pressing the doorbell, I never expected John himself to answer the door with just a simple ‘Come in!'” Brian Hamill recalled. “The first thing he said to me was, ‘Hello Brian, I’m John. Would you like something to drink?’ As I looked around the room, searching for the ‘John Lennon team,’ I realized that the only person there was Yoko Ono.” Brian Hamill went on to share that the warmth between the two of them exceeded his expectations, especially when they walked down the street. He recalled that John Lennon never made himself out to be a big deal, always greeting passersby with a friendly smile alongside his wife.
As seen in the collection, the lens indeed captured the “everyday” of John Lennon and Yoko Ono from a close distance, stopping in front of a small shop to admire the display, walking casually next to strangers, no longer just on stage or stepping out of the cockpit to receive the warm welcome of tens of thousands. Among the many photos shared by Brian Hamill, his favorite is a picture of the two of them looking at the Hudson River from afar, both dressed in dark tones at the time. John Lennon’s gesture of resting his arm on his wife Yoko Ono’s shoulder perfectly demonstrates the harmony and intimacy between the two, as described by Brian Hamill: “It was an incredible moment.” These precious moments, even now, still evoke nostalgia and a sense of both reality and fantasy; and then counting on fingers, one realizes that this genius of a generation has already been gone for 40 years, and if still alive, has also entered old age.
