Paul McCartney used his Pentax camera and guitar freely. The 21-year-old took his new camera on the Beatles’ invasion of America in early 1964.
Pop music, short hemlines, and screaming fans sprang from the 1960s youth culture. One witness saw this wonderful occasion closer than most. Sir Paul McCartney starred in memorable photos as Beatlemania swept Britain and the world. The period McCartney called “bedlam,” “pandemonium,” and “mass hysteria” has been mostly documented from the outside until now.
McCartney’s collection revealed hundreds of photos from that trip that he assumed were lost.
McCartney’s images reveal that the band’s followers and the four young men shared a fascination. They contain unseen photos of the band relaxing between shows and the fans they drew, taken from a rear windscreen or hotel window.
The ubiquitous eyeballs inspired the eyeballs of the Storm. McCartney’s foreword asks, “Who is looking at who?” “The camera always seems to be shifting, with me photographing them, the press photographing us, and those thousands and thousands of people out there wanting to capture this storm.”
Now, a new exhibition, Paul McCartney, Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm, at London’s newly reopened National Portrait Gallery and a new book. 1964: Eyes of the Storm, will feature more than 200 images McCartney found in his production company archives in 2020. From 1963 to 1964, The Beatles went from Liverpool’s dingy picture houses to London, Paris, New York, Washington, DC, and Miami for their electrifying US debut.
The photos are historical. Lepore calls it a “far more purposeful spirit of rebellion” that shaped politics. She thinks “huge structural changes” are happening, citing the UK’s end of the recession and the US’s lowering the voting age to 18. The US Civil Rights Act was approved while colonies around the world gained independence, and the contraceptive pill was introduced as equal pay laws began.
McCartney’s talent is impressive. “Not only has he absorbed the ideas around photojournalism—the Cartier-Bresson idea of capturing that decisive moment—he’s already looking to frame shots, looking for interesting angles,” adds Broadley, who helped choose the exhibition’s photos from around 1,000. “He understands what makes a good portrait; he’s quite good at placing a figure in space; and he’s interested in architecture and the interesting perspectives you can get.”
Sometimes he hands his camera to a manager, roadie, or bandmate, and there he is, McCartney himself, performing on stage or posing for press photographs, his doe-like eyes peeking out from the mop-top haircut.
Paul McCartney, Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm is at the National Portrait Gallery from 28 June to 1 October 2023. The book, 1964: Eyes of the Storm, is out now, published by Penguin.
Image courtesy: Paul McCartney
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