The Beatles Photographed by Richard Avedon, 1967

In August 1967, The Beatles and their band manager Brian Epstein enlisted the photographer Richard Avedon to help visualize the psychedelic foundations of their groundbreaking eighth studio album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which debuted a few months earlier. The shoot took place at a photographic studio in a penthouse in Thompson House, 200 Gray’s Inn Road, London on August 11, 1967.

Through color manipulation, Avedon created hallucinatory, Day-Glo portraits of the Liverpool band brimming with symbolism of psychedelia, peace, and love—John Lennon gazes out through swirling glasses, Paul McCartney holds flowers, George Harrison is decorated with henna, and Ringo Starr carries a dove.

At the shoot, Avedon also captured serene, black and white portraits of the Fab Four in simple black shirts, which later became known as the “Mount Rushmore” images of the group. A year later, Avedon’s photographs—along with collectible posters—were released simultaneously in popular magazines across the world, including Look in the United States, The Daily Express in the United Kingdom, and Stern Magazine in Europe.