"Angus McBean (1904-90) was one of the most extraordinary British photographers of the twentieth century. From the early 1930s to the late 1980s he inspired generations of artistic and cultural figures with his inventive portraiture." "His early portraits of stars, such as Peggy Ashcroft, Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, contrast starkly with later commissions to photograph Cliff Richard, Shirley Bassey and the Beatles. In the midst of this work, McBean developed the surrealist techniques with which he is now best associated, for example depicting the actress Dorothy Dickson as a water lily and Vivien Leigh as a Greek goddess." "Throughout his long career McBean retained a cult status. For the first time since his death, this book brings together colour prints from the 1960s, including the shot of the Beatles leaning over the balcony at their recording studios, used on the album cover Please Please Me, and his celebrated series of self-portraits, which he sent out as Christmas cards. Terence Pepper's account of McBean's life and work includes extracts from the photographer's unpublished autobiography and is illustrated throughout with full-page reproductions."--BOOK JACKET.