Daelim Museum holds McCartney retrospective
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The Beatles
By Kwon Ji-youn
On May 11, 1968, Linda McCartney became the first woman to land the Rolling Stone magazine cover with her portrait of Eric Clapton. She had made a name for herself as a photographer-slash-groupie while working at the Fillmore East concert hall, with work that featured moments in the lives of Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Neil Young, among others.
McCartney, first wife of English musician Paul McCartney, died in 1998 of breast cancer, leaving behind a broad body of work that reflected not only her life as a musician and photographer, but also as an animal rights activist and mother.
A retrospective of McCartney’s photographs is on display at the Daelim Museum in Jongno, central Seoul, through April 26, 2015. The exhibition is divided into sections that illustrate the many modifiers that often accompanied her name, including one based on her work as an activist and vegetarian.
McCartney’s photographs are not artistically faultless. Some feature odd angles and others have captured unflattering moments, like Hendrix yawning, perhaps because McCartney had taken photographs with the camera on her knee while conversing with her subjects.
Paul and Linda McCartney, London / Courtesy of Daelim Museum
Beatles fans will enjoy the “Chronicler of the Sixties,” set apart for photographs McCartney took of Paul and the band members.
In 1967, McCartney sought out Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, to request that she be allowed to take photographs of the English rock band. The next day, she met the Beatles and her husband-to-be, Paul. On one wall of the museum is a photograph that resembles that of the four members walking a crosswalk, the renowned “Abbey Road” cover.
But McCartney’s shot is of a slightly different angle, and McCartney appears to be looking down at the ground _ a behind-the-scenes shot.
Other photographs feature Lennon and Paul laughing a year before the Beatles broke up, and Lennon and Yoko Ono, Lennon’s second wife.
In one corner are snapshots of Paul and their children _ Heather, Stella, Mary and James _ away from the recording studio, stage and fans. These photographs in the “Family Life” section show glimpses of McCartney’s life as a mother and wife, photographs not unlike those that can easily be found in the albums of any mother and wife.
With a husband like Paul, McCartney was unable to lead an ordinary life, but found ways around this _ several of McCartney’s photographs are of fans surrounding her, taking pictures. To one side are shots of butchered meat and mutton livers, work that reflect Walker Evans’ influence on McCartney. Evans was known for his street photography and social commentary.
McCartney began her photography career with Town & Country magazine and was the only unofficial photographer permitted to take photographs of the Rolling Stones during a promotion party on the Hudson River.
McCartney’s daughters Mary and Stella participated in the planning for the exhibition at which some 200 of McCartney’s photographs are on display, as are a few that fellow artists took of the photographer herself, “Portraits of Linda.”
For more information, visit www.daelimmuseum.org or call 02-720-0667.
Follow Kwon Ji-youn on Twitter @jennajykwon