With A Little Help From My Lens

Tommy Hanley was a professional photographer all his career. On the 6^{th of} September in 1963, he first met The Beatles at the Odeon cinema, in Luton, Bedfordshire, UK, where he took the iconic ‘4 ties’ photo. That was the start of a relationship with the fab four, until he left them in 1995. I am Tony, Tommy’s son. I have managed Toms extensive picture archive for 15 years now, and it was me that cajolled him about getting his story about his time with The Beatles, the conversations, the events, all down on paper, which he did.

With the words done, next was book design and curation, and then BANG! he suffered a humdinger of a stroke which really stole his effervescence and everyday energy. Over time he managed a partial recovery, but never really got his ‘mojo’ back. Typically, he put a brave face on his circumstances, and tried his best to pick the project back up, but I could see he was struggling, so in 2018, I promised Tom that I would, one day, get this done, but didn’t say when.

I researched his journals, work assignments and finances, going all the way back to 1956, and the pandemic gave me the window of opportunity to create what is now his legacy, in the form of a highly collectable, unique quality book featuring over 300 of his images, (some of which are never before seen), and were brought to life without a publisher, agent or retailer. I have done it with a considerable financial investment, a professional book designer, a publishing & marketing guru, a specialist digital house to bring original colour transparencies and negatives to life once more, a quality print and finishing business, a specialist PR company, and every spare minute of the day.

It’s definitely not just another Beatles book with sensationalism or bias. It is a photographer’s story about his journey over 30 years with not just George, Paul, Ringo & John, but everyone that was in the back room, making great things happen, that eventually Tommy became part of.

This is a ‘one off’ collectable publication, limited to just 1000 copies at a retail of £495ea. I have no intention of going into book publishing, neither will it be diluted into paperback. It has been a mammoth task that I completely underestimated, time and investment to get to completion, however, that’s over now, my promise is fulfilled. With so many deserving charitable causes, and I have had to distil a commitment to donate some proceeds to four charities that I think Tommy would have given a thumbs up to, that you can see here.

The incredibly positive feedback from people that have bought a copy has been incredible. You will get to see more as time goes on, and if you buy a copy (which I hope you do), I don’t believe you will not be disappointed!