The cover of The Beatles’ Abbey Road is an iconic image in popular culture, but now a variation on that photo is up for sale. A rare photo of the Beatles walking in the opposite direction from the original album cover on Abbey Road may fetch around $16,000 (£10,000) at an auction on May 22. It is one of only six pictures taken during the shoot by photographer Iain McMillan.

In the reverse photo the Beatles walk right to left and Paul is wearing leather sandals.

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The photo has been in the hands of a private collector who has decided to put it up for auction at the London-based Bloomsbury auctions. Sarah Wheeler, a music specialist from Bloomsbury told The Sun about the picture, saying, “Macmillan had 10 minutes to do the shoot and he took six photographs of the Beatles walking backwards and forwards across the zebra crossing.

“He was standing up a ladder to take the pictures. In the one we have Paul McCartney is wearing sandals and in the image that was finally used he is barefoot.

“The photo has been called an icon of the 1960s. I think the reason it became so popular is its simplicity. It’s a very simple, stylized shot and is a shot people can relate to.

“The Beatles walked forwards and backwards three times and by pure chance a VW Beetle is in the background. That car is now in a museum.”

The image is also signed by Macmillian, who died in 2006. The 18×18 print is one of only 25 made from the original frame.

-Garret Heinrich 98.7 KLUV

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