Paul McCartney's 'lost' photos displayed at UK's National Portrait Gallery

Over 250 unseen photographs of the Beatles taken by Sir Paul McCartney are currently being displayed for the first time at the United Kingdom’s National Portrait Gallery in an exhibition titled ‘Eyes of the Storm’.

Paul McCartney had thought that most of the images taken in 1963/64 were lost – until to his surprise, one of his P.A’s mentioned that they have them stored safely in an archive. 

At the beginning of their fame, Pentax gave away SLRs to all members of the Beatles. Paul enjoyed experimenting with the camera the most and started snapping candid and posed shots of the band while jamming, recording, relaxing backstage and on tour.

McCartney commented: “The truth is, I have always been interested in photography, from the time I was very young, when our family owned a little box camera in the 1950s. I use to love the whole process of loading a roll of Kodak film into our Brownie camera.” 

He goes on to say: “Looking at these photographs, now decades after they were taken, I find there’s a sort of innocence about them. Everything was new to us at this point. But I like to think I wouldn’t take them any differently today. They now bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of many reasons I love them all and know they will always fire my imagination.”

You can find out more about this exhibition on the UK National Portrait Gallery website.

This is an interesting podcast interview by Conan O'Brien with Paul McCartney regarding his photography.

Also - you can watch this great video interview with Paul McCartney and Stanley Tucci. Cost is AU$20.

During this in-conversation, the pair explores their shared interest in the creative arts, culture and photography, drawing on experiences behind and in front of the camera. McCartney’s photographs from the 1963-64 period will form the focus of the discussion, as they share stories behind the 250 photographs exhibited as part of the exhibition. Drawing on reflections made in the accompanying book of photographs, 1964: Eyes of the Storm, McCartney will also discuss his photographic influences, sharing insights into his life and his own photography at the time.