The exhibition, titled Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris, opening on August 28 at Gagosian’s Davies Street space, presents the days before The Beatles conquered America, as seen through McCartney’s eyes. The images, taken between December 1963 and February 1964, during the band’s first sparks of fame, reveal both the hectic pace behind the stage lights and the everyday, often unseen moments of the group. As both a member and observer, McCartney documents the band’s inner life—backstage, on tour buses, during rehearsals, or in quiet anticipation before their next big step.
From the Room Where “Yesterday” Was Born to Paris Olympia
One standout image features a self-portrait McCartney took in the attic of the London home where he lived with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher’s family. This is the room where he famously composed the melody for Yesterday, which came to him in a dream one morning. Other photographs capture scenes backstage at Lewisham Odeon, London Palladium, and Finsbury Park Astoria, the three-week concert marathon at Paris Olympia, and the tense waiting before a flight to New York.
The photographs were taken with a 35 mm Pentax camera McCartney acquired at the end of 1963. The negatives and contact prints, long believed lost, have resurfaced and been reprinted for the current exhibition. Each bears the artist’s signature and is presented in frames personally designed by McCartney. In this way, the show is not only an archival discovery but also a reflection of McCartney’s approach to the art of photography.
Gagosian describes the images as “natural and candid.” Indeed, the photographs convey a level of openness and intimacy only a band member could capture. They reveal not only The Beatles’ legendary on-stage power but also their backstage vulnerability, intensity, and quiet moments.
Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris follows McCartney’s first photography exhibition earlier this year in Beverly Hills and coincides with the ongoing exhibition Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm, which began in 2023 at London’s National Portrait Gallery and is currently on view at San Francisco’s de Young Museum.
