We round up the reviews for the first exhibition opening at the newly renovated National Portrait Gallery.
The Guardian: **** “Eyes of the Storm, the exhibition of Paul McCartney’s photographs at London’s newly reopened National Portrait Gallery, depicts with great clarity and special intimacy the handful of weeks in which the Beatles were transformed from a local celebration into a global phenomenon.”
The Independent: ***** “For the National Portrait Gallery’s first major exhibition since reopening, it’s hard to imagine a more bang-on-target choice than this.”
Evening Standard: ***** “The modern pop dynamic is born in these pictures and, coloured by the seismic cultural impact of the era, it’s both humanising and beautiful to watch.”
iNews: “Such wonderings are part of the joy of this exhibition, which is a testament to the peculiar magic of photography, which makes it possible for a vast haul of pictures to be discovered, and resurrected for us – and McCartney, too – to see for the first time. But none of this would be possible without the exceptional, and now increasingly rare skills of the two London printers who have made every print in the show – bravo!”
The Telegraph: *** “At the National Portrait Gallery, you can see over 250 of Macca’s images, made in 1963-4 – but others were shooting The Beatles, and better.”
Express.co.uk: “Our favourite section was right at the back when the black and white of earlier on switched to mesmerising colour, perfect for capturing sunny Miami. Here The Beatles are at their most relaxed, enjoying a rest in private with some particularly funny faces pulled.”
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm is on display at the National Portrait Gallery until the 1st October 2023.