Paul McCartney 
Photographs 
1963–64
Eyes of the Storm

Free for Members and Patrons

Self-portrait Self-portrait, 1964, © Paul McCartney

★★★★★ The Times

★★★★★ The Independent

★★★★★ Evening Standard


Past exhibition archive
28 June - 1 October 2023

£22.00 / £24.50

£5 for all visitors aged 30 and under – supported by Bank of America

Members visit freejoin now


Thanks to the National Portrait Gallery’s Reopening Partner: Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

An unprecedented exhibition, revealing – for the first time – extraordinary photographs taken by Paul McCartney.

In this show, we focus on portraits captured by McCartney, using his own camera, between December 1963 and February 1964 – a time when The Beatles were catapulted from a British sensation to a global phenomenon. These never-before-seen images offer a uniquely personal perspective on what it was like to be a ‘Beatle’ at the start of ‘Beatlemania’ – and adjusting from playing gigs on UK stages, to performing to 73 million Americans on The Ed Sullivan Show. At a time when so many camera lenses were on the band, Paul McCartney’s photographs offer a crucial new perspective on the story of a band creating cultural history – in one of its most exciting chapters.


Paul McCartney, Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

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Download our digital guide on Bloomberg Connects and listen to a reflection on the exhibition by Paul McCartney, an audio interview with Mary McCartney, and explore a timeline of The Beatles from this period.


The Gallery is also a beneficiary of the Bloomberg Digital Accelerator programme

Inside the exhibition

Two visitors look at four large black and white images of the Beatles against a red wall
A visitor looks at a wall of black and white photographs
A visitor looks at a display about The Ed Sullivan Show on a yellow wall
Two visitors look at large colour images against a pale blue wall

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