We’ve all seen the iconic Abbey Road album cover. The Beatles march in unison across the quiet North London street where they recorded their eponymous album - but there's more to the story.
That day, the Fab Four were snapped a total of seven times, but Paul McCartney reportedly rejected six of the images in favour of the enduring album cover. Those images recently fetched $283,000 at auction at Bloomsbury House, London.
The rare rejected images were taken by Scottish photographer Iain Macmillan, who balanced on a stepladder in the middle of street to snap the band from the correct angle.
The photographer, a friend of John Lennon, took just 10 minutes with his Hasselblad camera to take the series of images, according to the auction house.
The discarded images were passed to Iain Macmillan's family when he passed in 2006. They were initially sold individually but were reunited by a private collector who has now sold the set via Bloomsbury Auctions.
"That photo's been called an icon of the 60s. I suppose it is," said Macmillan in 1989. "I think the reason it became so popular is its simplicity. It's a very simple, stylised shot. Also it's a shot people can relate to. It's a place where people can still walk."
