'Meeting Jürgen Vollmer was a very important event in my life and the lives of the other Beatles. His sense of style and excellent photographic skills were to have a profound effect throughout our careers.' - Paul McCartney
In 1960, three German art-school 'existentialists', Klaus Voormann, Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer, walked into a Rockers' basement club in Hamburg's Reeperbahn to find an unknown Liverpool band with a unique genius for rock'n'roll; and history was made. The creative spark that flared between those two groups transformed a generation. The band, of course, was The Beatles; Jürgen a rising photographer. By 1961, in the smoke and noise of Hamburg’s Top Ten Club, Jürgen had captured The Beatles at the very start of their story: leather jackets, quiffs, and raw electricity on stage.
Three decades later, celebrating his contribution to the iconography of The Beatles, Genesis worked with Jürgen to create From Hamburg to Hollywood. Featuring a foreword by Paul McCartney, Jürgen's signed, limited edition book contains all 45 frames of The Beatles taken at this time and also looks back over his life's work. With each copy, collectors can choose one original photographic print, made from the Hamburg negatives and signed by Jürgen.
Today, as the edition nears its end, these Hamburg prints have taken on a life of their own. What began as an accompaniment to the book has become, over time, a highly prized artwork in its own right – early, atmospheric portraits of The Beatles at the very start of their story.
Each remaining set includes one original photographic print, made from the Hamburg negatives and hand-signed by Jürgen Vollmer.
Most collectors choose either the Group Portrait – the defining image from the Hamburg sessions – or the Complete Hamburg Portfolio, which brings together all four prints.
Taken at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg in 1961, these prints were produced in the mid-1990s from the original negatives using traditional darkroom techniques. Each print:
Following the original project, Jürgen’s archive was acquired, and no further signed prints from these negatives can be produced. The prints included with From Hamburg to Hollywood therefore represent a closed, historic body of work.
Over the thirty years since they were made, these Hamburg images have come to be viewed by collectors as independent artworks – early, atmospheric portraits of The Beatles on the brink of fame, signed by the photographer who was there.
From Hamburg to Hollywood is limited to 1,750 copies worldwide, each signed by Jürgen Vollmer. Today, only a small number of sets remain available.
Once these final sets are spoken for:
For new collectors discovering the project now, each remaining print is therefore part of a de facto micro-edition – a small, finite group of darkroom prints that will not be repeated.
Jürgen Vollmer’s signed book remains an essential companion to the print — a carefully constructed record of the photographs, the moment, and the life behind them.
From Hamburg to Hollywood is a retrospective of Jürgen Vollmer’s life and work, told through his own design, stories and photographs. It spans his early days with The Beatles in Hamburg, his time in Paris, his years in New York and Hollywood, and his return to Hamburg decades later, with written contributions by Paul McCartney and Klaus Voormann.
Each copy is:
Together, the book and print form a single, coherent work — the images and stories within the volume culminating in a hand-signed Hamburg photograph that can be framed and lived with.
Only 50 available.
'Jürgen Vollmer was the first photographer to capture the beauty and spirit of The Beatles (tho' I say it myself)! We tried very hard to find someone with his touch after we returned from Hamburg, Germany. Nobody could.' – John Lennon
Only 30 available.
For the first time, and in extremely limited numbers, Genesis is also offering a Complete Hamburg Portfolio, uniting all four signed prints with a single signed book – available only while remaining stock allows.
Once these final sets are gone, no further signed From Hamburg to Hollywood prints will ever be issued.
Only 5 available.
Select from the following copies:
Beginning with recollections of his time with The Beatles in Hamburg in 1960, moving to Paris and an influential meeting with John and Paul, Jürgen Vollmer goes on to recount his experience of 1970s New York, life in Hollywood, and his return to Hamburg 30 years later.
Since 1974 Genesis has created signed limited edition books on behalf of authors and artists ranging from the Beatles to Buckingham Palace.
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Genesis House, 2 Jenner Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3PL, England
