A new exhibition of Paul McCartney’s own photographs reminds me that being in the moment is the overriding principle of great photography

I’m a big enough fan of The Beatles that I sat through eight hours of Peter Jackson’s meticulously restored footage of the ‘Fab Four’ working on their final studio album in Disney+ docuseries, The Beatles: Get Back. So news of a Beatles-themed photography exhibition at the Gagosian’s Davies Street location in London was always going to be of interest. But Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris isn’t your typical fly-on-the-wall showcase, because all of the images were captured by none other than Paul McCartney.

It would be foolish to think that a man who’s spent a lifetime expressing himself through various media, be it a lyric sheet, bass guitar, piano, or paint brush, could pick up a camera and do anything but capture enticing imagery. But what I love most about these photographs is that only three other people in the world could have come close to matching the spirit of Paul’s work: John, George, and Ringo. That’s because there’s an intimacy in the photography that could only have been captured by a fellow Beatle.

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The collection spans December 1963 to February 1964, just after the release of the band’s second album, With the Beatles. This is a pivotal moment in the Yesterday hitmakers’ history, because it marks the first few months of ‘Beatlemania’. Rather than an outsider’s inside look into the world’s biggest band, Paul’s photography eschews the gaze of the masses, sheds the superstar skin, and captures four young lads from Liverpool, touring the UK and Paris, just prior to their debut trip to the United States. I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris documents one of the most transformative periods of The Beatles’ careers, from domestic superheroes to the genesis of global stardom.

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Paul even makes an appearance as a subject himself, reflected in the mirror of his then-girlfriend, Jane Asher’s, family home. The exhibition also features playful portraits of the songwriting legend’s bandmates, imagery of the ogling press from the band’s point of view, and contact sheets that provide frame-by-frame documentation, akin to video footage. Everything was captured on Paul’s 35mm Pentax film camera. As such, not everything is perfectly in focus or exposed and I think the imagery is all the better for it. In a world where we strive constantly to improve the technical aspects of photography, Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris is a reminder that one element of photography trumps all else: being there, in the moment.

The prints are hand-signed by Paul McCartney and remastered from original negatives and contact sheets that were, rather remarkably, assumed lost for over half a century. Gagosian’s exhibition coincides with Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm, an exhibition that opened at London’s National Portrait Gallery and is currently on tour. Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris opened on August 28 and runs until October 4, 2025, in Gagosian’s Davies Street exhibition space, in central London.

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