An intimate exhibition reveals the quiet before the global roar. When Paul looks in the rearview mirror, an entire era comes back into focus. And we get to listen with our eyes. Before the screaming fans, the stadium tours, and the gold records, there were four young men and a camera. Starting August 28, London’s Gagosian Gallery unveils Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris, a collection of 18 never-before-seen photographs taken by Paul McCartney between 1963 and 1964, just before the Beatles became a global phenomenon.
Photos : Paul McCartney/Gagosian Gallery/DR
A Pentax and a sense of timing
In the fall of 1963, McCartney picked up a Pentax 35mm camera, not as a professional, but as a curious observer. What he captured was history in the making: John Lennon strolling down the Champs-Élysées, George Harrison backstage, Ringo Starr mid-flight en route to New York. There’s even a self-portrait taken in the attic of actress Jane Asher, McCartney’s then-girlfriend, where the melody for Yesterday was born. These black-and-white images are raw, unfiltered, and deeply human.
Icons in the making
What makes this exhibition so compelling is its tenderness. These aren’t polished portraits of rock stars, they’re snapshots of friends, still figuring out who they are and what they’re becoming. “They knew they were writing history,” says Joshua Chang, director of photography at Gagosian. And yet, the mood is casual, almost quiet. A band on the brink, caught in the soft light of early fame.
Photos : Paul McCartney/Gagosian Gallery/DR
Where and when to see it
Rearview Mirror runs from August 28 to October 4, 2025, at Gagosian Gallery, Davies Street, London. Entry is free, and the emotional impact is priceless. These images, rediscovered by McCartney during the pandemic,offer a rare, personal lens on the birth of a cultural revolution. For those across the Atlantic, a larger selection from this collection is also on display at the De Young Museum in San Francisco until October 5.
Photos : Paul McCartney/Gagosian Gallery/DR