In the 60s the Beatles became a phenomenon who broke boundaries by making his music sound almost in unison throughout the world and Paul MCCARTNEY captured with his camera 35mm Pentax as the band lived that momenteveryday images that are now part of the Brooklyn Museum’s ‘Eyes of the Storm’ exhibition.
Between 1963 and 1964, when the band made its first tour to the United States, McCartney took more than 250 photos, many of which were images from the ‘backstage’ of musicians tuning their instrumentsof his bandmates waiting before a show or of the landscapes he saw from the plane or train window.
He also immortalized how the band experienced Beatlemania by photographing the crowds of fans who greeted them everywhere and the groups of paparazzi who were hot on their heels.
The The first photograph in this exhibition is an out-of-focus self-portrait that McCartney It was taken in the reflection of a mirror in London in 1963.
“We chose this self-portrait in the mirror, because the main theme of the exhibition is photography and the photographer who sees himself reflected. Normally, you think of Paul McCartney as a musician, and here we are positioning him as a visual artist,” he explained to EFE this Wednesday Catherine Futter, director of curatorial affairs and senior curator of decorative arts at the museum.
In front of the self-portrait there is a huge photo of the band singing on stage, an image that logically McCartney could not take, but that was taken by someone from his team with his camera taken from backstage.
Futter explains that chose to include some snapshots of McCartney in the exhibition at the request of McCartney fans.
In addition to the photos, fans of these long-haired men can find many objects related to the band, such as the Beatles wigs that were sold at the time, magazines, personal diaries or even board games inspired by the musicians.
McCartney recounts his photographic memories
Below many of the snapshots you can read – and even listen to through a free application – quotes in which McCartney reflects on those moments.
“One of the things that kept us sane was doing stupid things. There were a couple of hats lying around at the Christmas Show and George thought it would be fun to wear two. And he was right, because it turned out to be a great photo,” McCartney reflected on a funny photograph of George Harrison.
About a black and white photo in which you see John Lennon with sunglasses in ParisMcCartney notes: “That’s how we worked and that’s how I met him. Looking back, (these images) are very special to me because they’re like family snapshots.”
Other photos transport the visitor directly into the eyes of a young Englishman traveling to the United States for the first time, such as the image of a pistol belonging to a Miami police officer in charge of the gang’s security.
“I was in the car taking pictures of palm trees and the general glamor of Miami, when one of our police officers (a motorcycle officer) stopped right next to the car, and was right where my camera lens was. “It was a bit of a shock for us to see a gun in real life, as we didn’t have armed police in England,” McCartney noted.
The hundreds of photographers who followed them everywhere were also their source of inspiration and were many of his “models” during this period, as well as his teachers, since according to Futter McCartney he asked them for advice on how to improve his focus or exposure.
All these recommendations helped him improve at high speedsomething that can be seen in the last part of the exhibition, dedicated to the band’s trip to Miami in 1964, photos that were also taken in color, unlike the rest of the exhibition.
The 81-year-old artist will not attend the opening of the exhibition, but he visited the exhibition in a private viewing on Tuesday and said he was very satisfied with the result.
