Back in 1963, the Beatles were entering the start of their stratospheric ascent. As they toured the UK and Paris, and got ready to visit America, Paul McCartney was documenting it all with his camera. Now, those pictures are being shown as part of an exhibition at the Gagosian in Davies Street, straight from McCartney’s personal archive.
Taken on his 35mm Pentax camera, the photos have been resurrected from contact sheets and negatives for the show, titled Rearview Mirror: Liverpool-London-Paris.
Many have never been seen before; others were thought lost forever and rediscovered during the pandemic. If that doesn’t make you want to go and see them immediately, then perhaps the Beatles life is not for you.
These ones are also for sale, which means the site will probably become a mecca for fans over the next month or so. Many of the frames have been designed by McCartney, which adds to the momentous nature of it all.
His fascination with photography is well-known. There was an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 2023, which followed the band as they embarked on their US tour. Another exhibition, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm, is on at the De Young Museum in San Francisco.
On the verge of fame
In those, seeing McCartney’s face in blurry self portraits, as well as those of the other band members — open with him in a way they would never be with a press photographer — was a fascinating experience.
This collection, which is free to visit, packs much the same punch, but with different images. These show the band backstage at the Lewisham Odeon, London Palladium and the Finsbury Park Astoria, as well as in Paris — in the two months leading up to their momentous trip to New York.
Fittingly, these last images (as they board the plane to America, all smiles) are also the only pictures to be in colour, capturing a band on the verge of breaking through. We’ve all seen pictures of them getting off the plane to hordes of screaming fans, but these are a never seen before chance to see them getting on.
There’s an easy, relaxed feel to these pictures and a striking sense of symmetry in the way they have been presented. Some have been blown up in size and given the space to breathe. One, of George Harrison wearing two hats for the inaugural Beatles Christmas Show, is gorgeously framed; another, of John Lennon eyeing up his own reflection in the mirror, comes across as emotionally charged — even though Lennon was probably just putting in his contact lenses. There’s another of the band at the dressing room in the Lewisham Odeon where Ringo is caught taking a photograph of his own. You can see the packing cases for their tour in the corner of the frames, adding to the intimate atmosphere.
Other images have been left in their original contact sheets, giving the impression you are watching their life in slow-motion.
Fuzzy, blurred and charming
One reel of images was taken during a photoshoot at the Clarence Street Tavern and in their Austin Princess car, which ferried the band between the baying crowds. Harrison is seen snoozing in the back seat, while John Lennon sits with a slightly self-conscious air (he hated the glasses he was photographed in): a reminder that this is a band not yet entirely comfortable with the trappings of fame.
There are also tangible moments of music history here. One of the most poignant is a selfie taken by McCartney, reflected in the mirror of the attic room where he dreamed up the melody for Yesterday. It’s fuzzy and out of focus, but that all adds to the mystique.
It’s a joy to wander among the images, spotting the band’s expressions and the flashing bulbs of the press — as well as the waving hands and excited smiles of their fans.
The pictures are sometimes fuzzy and blurred, but that’s all part of the charm: step inside and be transported back in time.
Gagosian Davies Street, from August 28 to October 4; gagosian.com
