NYC auction features 1964 Beatles photos

When Mike Mitchell heard a rising British band was to play its first American show in his hometown of Washington, D.C., the then-18-year-old magazine photographer couldn't let it be.

He begged his editors for a press pass, which gave him access to John, Paul, George and Ringo when Beatlemania was just beginning to spread to this side of the pond. Mitchell photographed the foursome at their Washington Coliseum concert in 1964, just two days after they debuted on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

"I think everyone of my generation in that room knew they were in the middle of something huge," said Mitchell, now 65. "Anyone under 18 got it immediately and could identify with the music."

Three of Mitchell's pictures were published in a small, now-defunct magazine, but 50 never-before-seen images captured during the Beatles' first U.S. visit will go on the block Wednesday night at 7 at Christie's auction house in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center.

The set of black-and-white prints is expected to fetch about $100,000, according to Christie's officials.

The startlingly intimate images include a portrait shot from behind all four Beatles during a performance, the stage lights illuminating their profiles. Another captures them -- shaggy-haired, grinning and carefree -- answering reporters' questions at a news conference. A third shows John Lennon singing with his head tilted and arm thrust playfully to the side.

"I marched up on the stage with my 18-year-old boldness and nobody stopped me," said Mitchell, who still works as a photographer in Washington. "I wasn't aware that I was on stage with the greatest band of all time back then, but I knew that I was close to people who were already having an incredible effect on the world."

Mitchell said he didn't have flash equipment, so he allowed the stage lights to dictate which shots should be taken where.

Mitchell unearthed the negatives from his basement, believing "it was time" to share them with the public. He digitally removed dust and scratches from the images and also produced some creatively manipulated prints, such as one showing a sequence of four Paul McCartneys singing and playing guitar with differing expressions.

Mitchell said he hasn't received offers to buy his photographs from McCartney or Ringo Starr, the two surviving Beatles, but is confident the prints will find fans.

"I'm sure they'll be homes where people treasure the pictures and treasure the Beatles," he said.