On Sunday, July 28, 1968, The Beatles spent an entire day being photographed across London. The band was deep into recording their self-titled double album — the one fans would come to call “The White Album” — and they needed fresh publicity shots. The man hired for the job was Don McCullin, a photographer best known for his raw, unflinching images from war zones.
The day started at Thomson House on Gray’s Inn Road, the headquarters of The Sunday Times. From there, the group moved through a string of very different London locations. The shoot was loose and unplanned in feel, which is exactly what gave it its nickname: the “Mad Day Out.”
One early stop was the Old Street roundabout, where all four Beatles posed in the middle of moving traffic. Taxi drivers and pedestrians stopped to stare. McCullin kept shooting.
The group then headed to Cable Street in London’s East End. McCullin knew the area well and felt its docklands grit would connect with the band’s working-class Liverpool roots. They were photographed against rough brick walls and the weathered urban landscape of Whitechapel.
Limehouse was another stop, where the four men posed near the grand Georgian houses that once belonged to sea captains. Each location added a different texture to the day’s growing collection of images.
St Pancras Old Church and Gardens gave the session one of its most memorable settings. The Beatles wandered among gravestones, stepped inside the church, lay down in a flowerbed, and climbed onto a monument. McCullin captured them relaxed and unguarded — nothing like the polished pop stars of a few years earlier.
At one East End community hall, the band came across a parrot. They posed with it. The resulting photos are among the more absurd of the day — four of the world’s most famous musicians clustered around a bird, laughing.
The day’s clothing reflected each member’s personality clearly. Paul McCartney wore a sharp dark green three-piece suit. George Harrison went for a frilled, patterned shirt under a red floral jacket. John Lennon kept it simple in a black coat and plain t-shirt. Ringo Starr dressed in a pinstriped blazer with a white shirt.
The final stop was Paul McCartney’s home in St. John’s Wood. The group was photographed in his living room, in his garden, and beneath the geodesic dome that sat atop part of the house. The dome shots feel almost futuristic — a sharp contrast to the brick and concrete of the East End earlier in the day.
