John Lennon Contact Sheet - 1965

Shot by Duffy in 1965, shortly after the Beatles USA tour which included their legendary Shea Stadium performance that was filmed and released in 1966. Lennon told Duffy the device he is holding was a UFO detector from a New York novelty store. It was, in fact, a device called a ‘Nothing Box’ created by the infamous ‘Magic’ Alex Mardas, a Greek electronics engineer who became head of The Beatles company ‘Apple Electronics.’ The sealed unit blinked its 8 lights continuously for a year without the ability to be turned off or repaired. Lennon was very fond of Magic Alex and this device, using it to aid his psychedelic LSD trips.

Duffy and Lennon were great friends. Lennon often visited the studio or came to the house for dinner. On one occasion he asked if it was okay to bring his friend Ringo. Duffy also photographed Lennon for a book cover along with Paul McCartney at CTS studios with the ‘Fifth Beatle’ George Martin. George Harrison was snapped at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1966 with Pattie Boyd. Unfortunately, there are no known photographs of Ringo Starr in the archive.