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Image Analysis: Abbey Road

Korie Williams

Ottawa University

Professor Justin Henning

VISUAL-COMMUNICATION-COM-30563

March 31, 2024

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The image I chose is one of the most famous photographs of all time. While the image is

synonymous with music fans, the cultural impact of the image has made it known to people

outside of the music world. Overall, at first glance, the picture seems simple. There isn’t much

truly going on in the picture as what catches your eye is the foreground, which showcases the

four people that really “matter”. This image can be broken down in a lot of ways. The

components in the image, the background and context, location at which it was shot, and through

formal elements such as colors.

Starting with backgrounds and context, you must know what the image represents. The

image was used for the album cover of Abbey Road by The Beatles. The picture was taken at

Abbey Road at the famed crosswalk in August of 1969. This would be the final album The

Beatles would produce as a band. In the photograph it pictures the four Beatles (from left to

right) George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon, walking across the

crosswalk. The Abbey Road crosswalk was situated outside of their EMI studios (now known as

Abbey Road Studios), which gave them easy access to get the picture done. The image took a

few tries before they got the famed version that we know today. The shots themselves were very

rushed as they had just finished recording versions of “Oh! Darling” and “The End” and wanted

to be done for that day. While this was not The Beatles' final photoshoot it was a turning point

their careers, and Abbey Road was the bookend to their monumental careers.

Now that the background context is filled in, why is the location of the photo so

important? As previously mentioned, Abbey Road was where their recording studio was. Over

the years of 1962 to 1970 they recorded 190 songs (together The Beatles only recorded 210

songs in total) in Abbey Road studios. The picture shows the band walking away from the famed

studio, which was symbolic for them at the time, as this would be their last album recorded
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together. Outside of the studio, Abbey Road found its place in Liverpool, England, home of The

Beatles. While they didn’t find their fame within Liverpool, it was still where each of them

called home. For the band the location made sense. Paul McCartney was the ringleader in the

idea for the Abbey Road cover as he had a friend of Yoko Ono’s draw a quick sketch of the idea

he had. In the end, with the album being titled, “Abbey Road”, the location is important.

With background and location explained, let’s move on to the actual image and what is

shown. The background of the image shows a blue sky with trees hanging over the street, as cars

line the sides of the street, in the back right side you can see a man looking over at The Beatles.

As for the foreground, you see the white painted crosswalk as four of the most famous men in

the world at the time walk across the cross walk. George Harrison is in a denim outfit. Paul

McCartney is in a blue/grey suit with no shoes and a cigarette in his right hand. Ringo Starr is in

a black suit. John Lennon is in a full white suit with matching white shoes. Three of the four men

are walking in synchronized steps with their left legs leading while McCartney is out of synch

with the others. The image isn’t totally centered with the white line that divides the street. The

lighting of the photo is just natural light as there were no studio lights used, just one camera. The

small details within the image weren’t done on purpose (as said by Paul McCartney). All four of

the Beatles wanted to get the picture over with, so the only thing done on purpose was the frame

chosen to be the album cover. Out of the six images taken, McCartney chose the image we all

know today, as it was the closest to his sketch.

Today when we think of famous album covers, Abbey Road is one that comes to millions

of people's mind. The image had almost as much cultural impact on the world as the album's

music. Abbey Road is an image that pops up often within popular media. The photograph has

stood the test of time as one of the greatest images captured. Which when understanding the
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background of how little effort went into capturing the image, why the image was done the way

it was, or how it was taken makes the image a lot more interesting. To be able to say, “the image

has four guys walking across a crosswalk in a line,” and people be able to know exactly what

someone is talking about truly says a lot about the impact of the image.
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References

O’Gorman, M. (2021, September 26). The story behind The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover.

Radio X. https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/beatles/the-beatles-abbey-road-album-cover-

facts-meaning/

Our Story. (n.d.). Abbey Road. Retrieved March 26, 2024, from

https://www.abbeyroad.com/our-story#:~:text=We%2C%20of%20course%2C%20can

The Beatles - Abbey Road album cover: photo by Iain Macmillan, design by John Kosh.

Our Story. (n.d.). Abbey Road. Retrieved March 26, 2024, from

https://www.abbeyroad.com/our-story#:~:text=We%2C%20of%20course%2C%20can

Sexton, P. (2020, August 8). Abbey Road Album Cover: Behind The Beatles’ Most Famous

Photograph. UDiscover Music. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/beatles-abbey-

road-cover-photograph/