Original photograph by Roy Kerwood, dated 12 Aug. 1969, possibly the only copy in existence. Roy Kerwood was an 18-year-old student photographer when he scored intimate access to the Bed-In...
Original photograph by Roy Kerwood, dated 12 Aug. 1969, possibly the only copy in existence.
Roy Kerwood was an 18-year-old student photographer when he scored intimate access to the Bed-In staged by John Lennon and Yoko Ono at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel in spring of 1969. The Beatle was on honeymoon with his new wife, Japanese artist Yoko Ono, and was en route to the Canadian city to stage a “Bed-In.” Vowing not to move from their bed for a week, the new couple staged the bizarre event with the intended message that if more people did the same, wars would end. By week’s end, Mr. Kerwood had earned $700 (about $6000 in today’s dollars) by selling some of his photos to both Lennon and CFOX (English language Canadian AM radio station located in Pointe-Claire, Quebec.) Although, aside from a credited photograph in the October, 1969 issue of Penthouse, none of the shots ever saw publication. Although he took several hundred photos, only about 40 survive. Mr. Kerwood said he had several rolls of film stolen by the steady stream of well-wishers and fans circling through the hotel room. More images vanished in the 1980s when a fire swept through his father’s home, destroying the negatives.