The deYoung Museum exhibit of Sir Paul McCartneys' early photos is a smashing success!
Sir Paul McCartney has allowed his private early Beatles collection of personal photos to be on tour for the public to view. Until July 6, 2025 the deYoung Museum in San Francisco is the host of this wonderful slice of Beatles visual history.
To be honest, I was on the fence before going to the exhibit, then a friend's invitation prompted me, so I went. And I am so happy I did! I fully recommend this to anyone interested in music, The Beatles and/or photography in general. I ticked all those boxes for myself and can honestly report that I enjoyed it thoroughly!
It begins in the earliest days when the fab four begin their rise to superstardom and Beatlemania. Going from the UK to Paris, and then it moves into the four young lads from Liverpool touching down in the USA for the first time. It shows through candid photos by Paul how these musicians in their early twenties react and deal with the press, and the public with screaming girls at every turn. The exibit moves through photos taken along this journey. Onto their first time in New York and Miami and the hysteria that ensued about the mop tops from the UK. The exhibit is accompanied by reels from the early days including their first American press interviews, the Ed Sullivan Show and their antics amongst themselves as their popularity exploded in America in February, 1964. In my opinion, as a music photographer...the body of the photography I saw in this collection is perfectly imperfect. Some were blurry and oddly framed, but all these images expertly captured the essence of the moments both private and public. This personal collection clearly tells the story of the experiences that these young musicians were having in the beginning of the explosion of what was to become Bealtlemania. It was surely history in the making. In music photography I truly believe it is the capturing of the 'essence' in the moments in time in the camera that are what makes the images really special. And Paul accomplishes this perfectly in this group of images called, "Eyes of the Storm". Like this intimate moment of John playing his guitar to himself in a hotel room.
There are also a couple of iconic photos in this exhibit by other photographers, like the Harry Benson photo - "Pillow Fight" and some from the Ed Sullivan Show. However, the more intimate shots by Paul of his bandmates and the Beatles team including George Martin, Brian Epstein, family members and early girlfriends are priceless.
As a live music lover I thought it was interesting to see that one of the photos Paul took was of the sign in front of a venue... Early in their career, The Beatles played and sold out on a Tuesday. For any bookers or bands out there this little tidbit my be of interest too.
Pauls' eye for photography is very apparent as his lens peers through objects, and captures the essence of John, George and Ringo in many shots. He was also quite taken with the people along their journey such as airline staff, minders and fans waiting at every turn. There was a shot in a New York street of fans seeing Paul behind the lens and running towards him that I loved (below). And crowds waiting for them at ferry docks and airports in every city. There was one shot on an airline tarmac of the crew excited to see them and one of the crew was mimicking playing guitar at Paul whilst he snapped the shot. And many photos Paul shot from the inside of cars.
Before I went to the exhibit I imagined it would be a few photos in a room, but this was so much more. I was so very wrong, as it was several rooms taking the viewer through the early sixties from the UK, to Paris, to New York and Miami and spots in between. There were even display cases of schedules of their early visits, handwritten letters and even Pauls' Pentax camera that shot many of the photographs, complete with a strip of negatives. There were lots of contact sheets and photos that may have never seen the light of day if not for his archivist Sarah Brown, and for The National Portrait Gallery, in London. Apparently it evolved whilst going through more popular public shots, and he casually said to Ms Brown that he has early ones that he took, and would they be of any interest? And of course she said 'yes'! And now we have this wonderful, 'Eyes of the Storm' exhibit today.
There are photographers that followed the lads around in private settings through the early days. And Harry Benson was one of them. His assignment was to turn in at least one shot per day of The Beatles in America during that first visit. And thats how the iconic "Pillow Fight" came to be. Apart from a few press photographers, there were also photos shot by some of Pauls' friends, Paula Amato, Sharon and Keith Barnes, Miriam Elman, Heidi and Doug Kirkpatrick, Stu Levy, Amy and David Lewin, Angela and Rex Snow, and Paula Wynn. But The primary focus of the exhibit, was showcasing his own private collection of early photographs, (pre Linda Eastman), mostly from 1963-1964, and in my opinion, it was a smashing success! I would highly recommend this show at the deYoung in San Francisco or when it's on tour at a gallery near you. I liked it so much, I may even go again!
On another Macca note....this year marks the 50th anniversary of my favorite McCartney album, Venus and Mars. Looking back, it's truly incredible how quick the years came and went! And in a couple months, (May 6, 2022), will be three years since Macca was in the Bay Area playing his "Got Back" tour. I had the priviledge of covering that show. And it turned out to be at the top of my favorite concerts list, (a surprise to me)! You can see my 2022 Macca concert photo gallery and article of that show here.
For another related article, my interview with the iconic music photographer, Henry Diltz, where he talks about how he got started in the biz and his time with Paul and Linda McCartney, please click here.
And as always...a little Music Soup reminder...."Life is short...break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, meditate often, be kind to each other, and never regret anything that made you smile". And of course...see live music!
With peace, love, art and music,
Cheryl ☮ ❤️🎵 To those of you who cannot get to the show, here are some pics I shot with my iphone of the exhibit at the deYoung:
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