Paul McCartney - Photographs - Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London

  by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 30 / 8 / 2023

Occasionally, I wonder how much more there can be to say about The Beatles. And we have been seeing countless pictures of them through almost seven decades! So I wasn't expecting to be especially thrilled by the newly-released historic photographs taken by Paul McCartney that are now on view at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Yet, I was surprised. The pictures chronicle four months in the early 1960s (from November 1963 to February 1964) when the four lads from Liverpool were rocketing to huge, unprecedented fame. They are an insider's guide to Beatlemania and are drawn from personal archives that had languished unseen in an attic until McCartney rediscovered the negatives and contact sheets during lockdown. Captured on 35mm film with a good quality Pentax camera, the candid backstage and on-the-road photos give a first-hand glimpse of what McCartney has described as “the crazy whirlwind” that begins on a grimy Merseyside and ends with the band's first trip to the USA. Highlights include vivid shots of the band's adoring American fans plus an armed police escort – all taken from inside the windows of their limousine. The pictures portray affection, great charm and a naively inquisitive sense of wonder as Ringo, John and George react to the startlingly new and different world now surrounding them. John Lennon wears his NHS glasses as he looks pensive in the back of a cab whilst George Harrison excitedly fools around in various silly hats. As the band reached sunny Miami, McCartney switched from black and white to colour film, allowing some attractive shots of bright blue skies, sun-kissed palm trees plus Lennon jumping feet first into a Florida swimming pool. These early images are fascinating, shedding fresh and inside light on precious moments that were to change the course of pop music for ever. Little did the four know it then – but this was the beginning of the band's long and winding - and ultimately stupendously successful - road! The exhibition runs at the National Portrait Gallery in London until Sunday 1st October. For details, see:- www.npg.org.uk

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