Paul McCartney bedroom selfie in backstage Beatles photo exhibit

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Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian Titled: Self-portrait in my room at the Asher family home, Wimpole Street, London, December 1963. A black and white, out of focus image of Paul McCartney holding his camera in both hands, and pointed at a mirror. He has a straight face and does not smile. Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian

All of the photographs were taken on McCartney’s 35mm Pentax camera

Photographs taken by Paul McCartney during the early rise of Beatlemania will be showcased in central London later this month.

The exhibition, titled Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris, will be shown at the Gagosian Gallery on Davies Street from 28 August until 4 October.

The photographs, taken on McCartney’s 35mm Pentax camera, chronicle a close-up look at the Beatles as their reputation spread beyond Liverpool ahead of their debut visit to the US.

The black and white photos are a look at the in-between moments in the band’s trajectory, from their 1963 UK tour, to their first as headliners and three-week residency at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, the Gagosian said.

Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian Titled: At London Airport (with Brian Epstein, Mal Evans, and Neil Aspinall) for Pan Am flight 101 to New York City, 7 February 1964. Three rows of five images in colour show snapshot moments boarding the flight. Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian

A glance behind the scenes as the group head to New York City

Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian Titled: Photographers, fans, and officers, rue de Caumartin, Paris, January 1964. A black and white image of people looking at the camera, some are smiling, others are pointing cameras at the photographer, McCartney. Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian

Fans and photographers snap pictures of the band, while McCartney captures them

Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian Titled: George, Ringo, and John backstage at The Beatles Christmas Show, Finsbury Park Astoria, London, December 1963. The three bandmates are sat down and look down the lens of the camera. They wear dark suits and are captured in black and white film. Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian

George, Ringo, and John before their Christmas show in Finsbury Park Astoria

Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian Titled: John on the Champs-Élysées, Paris, 15 January 1964. John wears a bakerboy-style hat, and a dark coat. He leans into the camera frame and smiles. A photographer is seen, blurred in the background. Paul McCartney, Courtesy Gagosian

John snapped by McCartney during the band’s visit to Paris

The free exhibition features a self-portrait of McCartney reflected in the mirror of an attic room in the London family home of his then-girlfriend, Jane Asher. It was there that he dreamed the melody for “Yesterday”.

Backstage scenes show the band at the Lewisham Odeon, London Palladium, and Finsbury Park Astoria, as well as the moments before the band’s transatlantic flight took off for New York.

The photographs were remastered from original negatives and contact sheets thought to have been lost for over half a century. Some have been presented as contact sheets rather than individual frames.

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