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Paul McCartney is well-known as a musician, but far less so as a photographer. Yet, between the end of 1963 and the spring of 1964, as the Beatles transitioned from young Liverpool prodigies to a global phenomenon, he immortalized this rise with his 35mm camera. This summer, the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence is unveiling these rare images in an exhibition that will appeal to both photography enthusiasts and music lovers.
Nearly 250 photographs , long kept in the artist's personal archives before being rediscovered in 2020, tell the story from the inside. Not the story of accredited photographers, but that of a member of the group. Hotels, train stations, backstage, rehearsals, streets of Paris, crossings of New York, or stolen moments in a car: each photograph captures the dizzying heights of celebrity, without ever losing the spontaneity of the gaze.
The exhibition chronologically follows this pivotal period, from Liverpool to London, via Paris, before their triumphant arrival in the United States, where the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show definitively propelled the group into another dimension. Beyond the musical legend, the exhibition also recreates the atmosphere of the 1960s, between a Europe rebuilding itself and an America that captivated an entire generation.
Presented across 700 square meters , this retrospective is part of the celebrations of 200 years of photography and joins the program of the Grand Arles Express at the Rencontres d'Arles. An intimate immersion into one of the greatest turning points in the history of pop, seen through the eyes of the man who was at the heart of the event.
Paul McCartney Photographer 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm
Granet Museum
Place Saint-Jean de Malte, 13100 Aix-en-Provence
Until January 3, 2027
https://www.museegranet-aixenprovence.fr/accueil
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