Photographs and reflections by Paul McCartney

The rediscovery within the MPL archives of a collection of negatives, prints and contact sheets representing Paul’s photographic journey from late 1963, when he took ownership of a Pentax SLR camera, to mid 1964 has led to the first publication of 275 images. Ringo has also successfully published his photographic work with the 2015 release of Photograph.

Paul has divided the book into chapters representing the cities that he and the Beatles were conquering during the hight of Beatlemania as it spanned first the channel and then the Atlantic. From Liverpool to London to Paris to New York to Washington DC and finally Miami, the flavour of the pictures changes to match the location.

Paul serves up an overall introduction to the book as well as chapter introductions setting the scene for each of the cities visited. There are some fabulous photographs particularly of the those that comprised the familiar inner circle of the Beatles entourage including Brian Epstein, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinal and Tony Barrow but additionally other photographers working on the tour and other artists they were sharing the bill with. This illustrates how frenetic these tours were and that there was so little, if any, time for themselves. The eye of hurricane is meant to be bizarrely tranquil considering the energetic forces that surround it, and yet the centre of the Beatlemania storm is as frenetic as anywhere else.

There are a fabulous couple of photo’s that Paul took of Jane Asher in the Liverpool section and are clearly influenced by the work of Astrid Kirchherr, and shot in her trademark half shadow. The final chapter “Miami” represents a contrast as the photographs are shot on colour film and illustrate the sun, sea and sand that the Beatles enjoyed during some much needed down-time between Ed Sullivan performances that concluded their US trip. They were clearly enjoying a fantastic time as they were able to reflect on having conquered the USA.

Following Paul’s introduction there is also an essay by Harvard historian and New Yorker essayist Jill Lepore entitled Beatleland which puts the ’63-’64 journey into some context but is framed in such a way that a political framing is given a significant bias. Emphasis is given to the Beatles anti-segregation standpoint and both the UK and US political landscape post Kennedy’s assignation is presented to set the scene. I’m not sure why the political context is highlighted in such a way because the photo’s themselves illustrate little of this. The fact is that the Beatles were the escape from from the political scene and the establishment it represented. The fans would have known little of their political views or their anti-segregation standpoint. Their cultural influence would eclipse the political influence many times over and perhaps this should have been the theme of the narrative.

There is also a preface by Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery and Another Lens, an essay by Senior Curator Rosie Broadley. The National Portrait Gallery is currently exhibiting Paul’s work and their intention is to tour the exhibition once the London residency has concluded.

There is much to enjoy from Eyes of the Storm and seeing anything new in terms of original Beatles product is always an exciting prospect. Pleasing though this collection is, there is not too much that is significantly surprising or enlightening or may change our already existing understanding of those events despite Paul’s proximity to the centre of things. This would make, however, a nice addition to any Beatles fan’s library.

Review by Gwyn Jenkins.