Beatles photographer Astrid Kirchherr dies aged 81

German photographer Astrid Kirchherr, whose early shots of The Beatles helped turn them into icons, has died aged 81, Zeit and NPR report. Kirchherr first came across the band when she visited a nightclub in her native Hamburg where they were playing. "My whole life changed in a couple of minutes. All I wanted was to be with them and to know them" - she later told Beatles biographer Bob Spitz. She took the first photo of the band in Hamburg in 1960, and is credited with helping develop their visual style. She began dating Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bassist in the band, and even cut his hair into the famous mop top style that the group came to be associated with. Kirchherr remained friends with the band after Sutcliffe's death and photographed them throughout the 1960s. Her death was announced by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who said "her gift to the Beatles was immeasurable".