‘Lost’ unseen Beatles photos shot by Paul McCartney are going on display at the National Portrait Gallery

Unseen photos of The Beatles, shot by Paul McCartney between December 1963 and February 1964, are to go on show at the National Portrait Gallery in London when it re-opens this summer.

McCartney thought that the images in question had been lost, but rediscovered them in 2020.

The exhibition, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm, will run from 28 June to 1 October 2023.

The gallery’s director, Nicholas Cullinan, tells The Guardian that the images will offer a “uniquely personal perspective on what it was like to be a Beatle” at the height of Beatle-mania.

He continues: “The photographs taken in this period captured the very moment that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were propelled from being the most popular band in Britain to an international cultural phenomenon, from gigs in Liverpool and London to performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York to a television audience of 73 million people.

“At a time when so many camera lenses were on the band, these photographs will share fresh insight into their experiences, all through the eyes of Sir Paul McCartney.”

McCartney intends to publish a book collating the photographs to coincide with his upcoming 81st birthday in June. The 275 photos in the collection were taken on a 35mm camera in New York, Washington DC, Miami, London, Liverpool and Paris.

Following a period of refurbishment, the National Portrait Gallery will reopen to the public on June 22.

In November, an arty new video for Beatles classic I’m Only Sleeping was released. Created by artist/director Em Cooper, the video sees the Fab Four rendered in a dizzying series of stunning oil paintings that seamlessly swirl into one another.

“Artist and director Em Cooper explored the space between dreaming and wakefulness, working on an animation rostrum on sheets of celluloid,” explains a statement accompanying the video. “She painted every frame individually in oil-paint, a laborious process which took many months.”

I’m Only Sleeping was originally included on The Beatles’ critically lauded and highly influential seventh studio album, 1966’s Revolver, which received a flashy new reissue last year.

Source: loudersound.com