Paul McCartney’s rediscovered photos show Beatlemania from the inside

LONDON — Is there really a new way to look at The Beatles, one of the most filmed and photographed bands in history? Gallery director Nicholas Cullinan said the exhibit, subtitled “Eyes of the Storm,” is a chance “to see, for the very first time, Beatlemania from the inside out.” The seed for the exhibit was sown in 2020, that year of lockdown projects, when McCartney dug out 1,000 forgotten photos he’d taken in 1963 and 1964, as the Fab Four went from emerging British celebrities to world megastars. Broadley said these images depict “a parochial postwar British celebrity” -- concerts in provincial cinemas alongside now-obscure bands like Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, 16-night variety-style Christmas shows at London’s Finsbury Park Astoria. “So there’s a real tenderness and vulnerability to these images.” In January 1964, McCartney took his camera with the band to Paris, capturing the city at the height of its French New Wave cool. “It’s quite nice to have those ones where they’re sitting around with a cup of tea before the event.” ___ “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm” is on at the National Portrait Gallery in London from Wednesday until Oct. 1.