Unpublished photos of the Beatles at their beginnings, signed Paul McCartney, are made public in dribs and drabs before an event exhibition which will take place from June 28 to October 28 at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
In total, more than 250 photographs will be on view in the exhibition
Paul McCartney photographs 1963-64: Eyes Of The Storm
.
Among the shots, we discover Ringo Starr laughing out loud, John Lennon in Paris, a self-portrait of Paul McCartney in a mirror or even George Harrison shirtless in Florida.
The photos, taken between November 1963 and February 1964, offer a unique look at the early days of The Beatles as they grew from British sensation to global phenomenon.
“At a time when so many camera lenses were on the band, it is Paul McCartney who tells the truest story of a band creating cultural history in one of its most thrilling chapters,
” says the museum on its official website.
Read also15 unknown masterpieces of the Beatles to (re)discover
The exhibition, which will mark the reopening of the National Portrait Gallery after three years of work, shows
“the frenzy of Beatlesmania seen from the inside”
, explains the museum in a press release.
We will see the group in Liverpool, rehearsing in Paris, in the streets of Manhattan, under the sun of Miami, etc.
Paul McCartney captured moments of concentration, relaxation, joy.
“Looking at them now, decades after having taken them, I find that there is a kind of innocence in them
, explains the singer.
Everything was new to us at that time.
But I like to think I wouldn't take them any differently today.
»
In 2020, Paul McCartney had contacted the National Portrait Gallery after finding these images he believed lost.
A book accompanying the exhibition will also go on sale on June 13.
Inside, 275 photographs of McCartney and his thoughts on them.
“They bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of the reasons I love them all
,” says the singer.