Photographic cameras are important tools for capturing moments, preserving memories and creating archives. The photographs and memories unearthed by legendary music band member Paul McCartney after 60 years tell a lot.
The “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm” exhibition at London’s National Gallery shows what made The Beatles extraordinary and brought generations together via their common ground. They didn’t just make great music with simple chords and solos; they also created a feeling in the listeners: “I can play this too.”
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr inspired many people to start making music. However, what set The Beatles apart was their ability to speak not just to people’s hearts but to their souls with their music. Paul McCartney, who was aware of this while living those moments that shook the world and garnered great attention wherever they went, wanted to capture those “moments” in records. It’s a way of stopping time:
Paul experienced a remarkable moment of rediscovery when he unearthed a treasure trove of almost a thousand of his own photographs. These pictures were taken in 1963 and 1964 when The Beatles rapidly rose to become the most renowned figures worldwide. This discovery brought back long-forgotten memories from that particular time in his life.
Paul McCartney announced this treasure trove of his own photographs, taken in 1963 and 1964 when they became the most famous people on the planet. Some 275 photographs, titled “1963-64: Eyes of the Storm,” were released to the public. The photos were taken during The Beatles’ travels in London, Liverpool and Paris, as well as images from their trips to New York, Washington and Miami.
Of course, there are previously unseen portraits of the band members John Lennon (1980) and George Harrison (2001), as well as the surviving member Ringo Starr. And the photographs of Paul McCartney and his wife Linda, who opened up this incredible archive to the world by turning it into an exhibition and then a book.
Paul McCartney expressed his feelings about the photographs: “Looking at these photos now, decades after they were taken, I find there’s a sort of innocence about them. Everything was new to us at this point. But I like to think I wouldn’t take them any differently today. They now bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of the many reasons I love them all and know that they will always fire my imagination. The fact that these photographs have been taken by the National Portrait Gallery for their reopening after a lengthy renovation is humbling yet also astonishing – I’m looking forward to seeing them on the walls 60 years on.
“There’s one of a girl wearing a headscarf in Washington, which I really like as a photograph ... There’s a sense of coolness,” shared Paul McCartney on Twitter.
Some of the photographs in the exhibition bear Linda McCartney’s signature. The successful British photographer was born into a family that instilled a love for art from an early age in New York. Her father was an entertainment lawyer representing famous contemporary artists like Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko. This curiosity and appreciation for art, along with awareness of contemporary trends and fine arts techniques, inspired the American artist to pursue a university education in fine arts and art history and later to have a career as a photographer. She was passionate and knowledgeable about rock and roll; she captured iconic images of The Beatles.
This event changed McCartney’s life in multiple ways. Two years later, Linda and Paul McCartney got married. With four young children, they lived in a farmhouse in Scotland to escape the pressures of fame. She was successful in various artistic pursuits until her tragic death from breast cancer at 56. Throughout her life, the American artist documented everything she saw through her camera lens, saying, “A good photograph to me is ... something that will make you react, stop and look and think really,” said McCartney. “You know, really ... a picture is worth a thousand words.”
