Jonathan Mendelsohn
Legendary Beatles singer Paul McCartney is debuting a photography exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery. The photographs will include vintage photos of McCartney’s fellow Beatles band members that he took back in the 60s.
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McCartney’s exhibition is titled Paul McCartney Photographs: 1963-1964 Eyes of the Storm and will run from June 28 and to October 1. McCartney commented about the exhibition, saying, “Looking at these photos now, decades after they were taken, I find there’s a sort of innocence about them.” McCartney’s photos were taken between December 1963 and February 1964, capturing the height of “Beatlemania.”
Paul McCartney’s Nostalgic Exhibition
McCartney’s exhibition includes 250 photos and features snapshots of John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Since both Lennon and Harrison both passed away long ago, the photos most likely carry major nostalgia for McCartney. In addition to the exhibition, McCartney is also releasing a book of photos titled 1964: Eyes of the Storm, which will be available for purchase in June.
About his exhibition, McCartney added “The truth is that I have always been interested in photography, from the time I was very young, when our family owned a little box camera in the 1950s. I used to love the whole process of loading a roll of Kodak film into our Brownie camera.”
A release for the exhibition stated, “While the exhibition’s narrative represents just four short months, McCartney’s photographs chronologically document the experiences of the band on their travels – from the grainy black and white portraits taken backstage in Liverpool, rehearsing musicians at a recording studio in Paris, wintry Manhattan skylines, to the gleaming colour shots of Miami Beach in the sunshine.”
The release continued by stating, “The earliest images in the exhibition date from November 1963, just as Beatlemania was gripping the nation, and culminate with photographs taken in February 1964, during the final days of the band’s first triumphant trip to ‘conquer’ America. Indeed, the group’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964 was watched by an unequaled television audience of 73 million people, transforming The Beatles into global superstars and redefining fame in the modern era.”
