One of the latest exhibits at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is a collection of photographs and videos from 1964. But not just any photos. This collection features the Beatles and centers on their first visit to the USA in 1964. The videos are famous ones – the interview at the airport when they first arrived in New York City as well as videos from their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Sprinkled throughout the exhibit are a number of pictures that Paul McCartney took – pictures of the paparazzi that followed them, of the people and crowds that they encountered, the other Beatles, as well as a few of the cities around them.
below: A series of three selfies that McCartney took in Paris in 1964. The bathroom mirror technique?
below: John Lennon, Paris, 1964, taken by Paul McCartney
below: George Harrison, NYC, 1964
below: Slide show of colour photos of the Beatles taken in Miami in 1964
below: One wall was devoted to a “contact sheet” style of print. Most of them were from their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City, February 1964.
below: Watching the video taken at the airport when they first arrived in New York City, 1964
below: New York City views
There was a small section of the exhibit that showed some video from when the Beatles played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
The exhibit continues until 7 June 2026
as I walk Toronto 