With only a week left before Michael Joseph’s iconic images are put in temporary storage, its time for all die hard Rolling Stoners to head to Soho’s Blink Gallery to enjoy the visual delights that the Beggars Banquet Collection has to offer.

Picture courtesy of the Soho’s Blink Gallery.

Michael Joseph’s legendary images, dating back to 1968, were commissioned for the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet album, and remain a faithful example of his trademark use of large group scenes with people and animals interacting.

Although Brian Jones had been busted for drugs the day before, the results of the two day shoot, which took place at Sarum Chase, the former home of Victorian society painter Frank Owen Salisbury, and Swarkestone, built in 1632 for bear-baiting and jousting, are more than a sight for sore eyes.

The images range from atmospheric black and white portraits of Mick Jagger, captivating in their nonchalance, to the juxtaposition of washed out background colour and the bright Victorian-inspired styling in the group shots.

A fine art quality transpires this collection, allowing surreal scenes involving goats, cows and the four, often bored, Rolling Stones, to inhabit a regal dining room and relax in its opulence. Lucky for some, eh?

Although it is more than a travesty that over 75% of the images have never been exhibited or seen by the public before, luckily, all Michael Joseph and Rolling Stones enthusiasts have at least a week to feast their eyes on music’s most notorious banquet.