However I wanted to discuss one of her most famous photographs as I think it is such an important and indeed unique photo. This is the photo of Paul cradling their daughter Mary that appeared on the back of his first solo album ‘McCartney’. This was the photo of Paul McCartney used on the back of his first solo album ‘McCartney’ which was issued in April 1970. It was in the press release for this album (which took the form of Paul interviewing himself) that Paul announced to the world The Beatles were no more.
Please note this is not my image- it is from the teenage headbag blog - felt however it was important to include a copy of this image in this blog post!
http://theteenagehead.com/blog/2012/08/4482/
This photo functions on two levels (at least!) On one level it is a respected rock photographer’s photo of one of the most famous musician of all time at a critical point of his career when he was launching his solo career after being in the most famous band of all time. On another level it is an intimate family snap by a woman of her husband and their baby. This double meaning is absolutely meant. It is important to remember the context in which this album was issued (mentioned above). The cover art was an overturned bowl of cherries (a comment on the end of the Beatles).
Paul McCartney is very media savy and aware of what image he wants to project. He was used to being portrayed with the other Beatles. In establishing his identity as a solo artist he wanted to make it clear that there was a new group that he owed his allegiance to- his wife and children. Even though Linda is not visually present in the photo, her presence is vital to understanding it. It is towards her that Paul is looking with such tenderness. The viewer would have been very aware of this. Paul knew that there was resentment towards Linda for a variety of reasons. His response was to make it very clear that he and Linda were a team , and that she was here to stay.
I have previously written about the misogyny that the Beatles partners have had to put up with. In particular both Linda Eastman and Yoko Ono both have had to put up with consid-erable attacks for their purported roles in undermining Paul and John’s relationship and sup-posedly contributing to the break-up of the Beatles. Both Paul and John responded by making it clear that Linda and Yoko were their partners, not just in life but in their art.
http://www.june42.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/53-wedding-bells-are-breaking-up-that.html
Linda Eastman was a pioneering rock photographer who was the first woman to have taken photograph used on the front of Rolling Stone in May 1968 (ironically enough this was of Eric Clapton). What is remarkable about this is she managed to establish this career as well as raising her young daughter Heather (from her first, brief marriage) as a single mother. It was in her role as a photographer that she first met Paul in May 1967. She would take photographs of the Beatles at the launch party for ‘Sgt. Peppers’ Lonely hearts club band’ (although they had met a few days before). After she married Paul in March 1969 she would go on to take some wonderful photographs of The Beatles in the studio recording ‘Abbey Road’. These are some of the best photographs of the Beatles in the studio because the band are all comfortable and relaxed with Linda’s presence, something that was not always the case with photogra-phers who came to visited them in the studio. Some of these photos are held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, showing their quality. Linda would also take the official photo-graphs of ‘The Threetles’ (Paul, George and Ringo) for the Anthology project in 1995. She would also take other photographs of Paul which were used for artwork on his records throughout their marriage.
Linda Eastman McCartney is not the only Beatle partner to issue photographs of their husbands, or indeed to take historically important photos. I have not got space here to consider Yoko Ono’s photos or artworks involving John Lennon. Pattie Boyd now exhibits as a photographer and has professionally reproduced some of the photographs she took of George during their marriage and after. Indeed it is Pattie who took the last known film footage of the Beatles in August 1969 which is used at the very end of the Anthology series. She also took the last known photograph of ‘The Threetles’ (Paul, Ringo and George) at Ringo’s 60th birthday party in July 2000 which appeared in her autobiography ‘Wonderful today’. Olivia Arias Harrison had several of her photographs of George reproduced in the ‘Living in the material world’ book. She also took the last publically available photograph of George which ap-peared in the sleeve-notes of Jules Holland’s album ‘Small world, big band’. However neither Pattie or Olivia are professional photographers (although Pattie now makes a healthy living from her photography) and their photos were not originally intended for public distribution. But as with Linda’s photo of Paul and Mary, these photos now are a tool by which both Pattie and Olivia place their relationship with George on the public record.
I also feel this is a very interesting image of fatherhood. Paul is shown being a ‘hands on’ father who is not afraid to be affectionate or behave in a manner which is perceived as maternal (i.e. cradling baby Mary close to his chest). He is clearly comfortable to be portrayed in such a manner. In an age where hyper masculinity was becoming almost mandatory for rock musicians (i.e. Led Zepplin, Rolling Stones), this image presents an image of a man as nurturing and caring towards both his wife and baby daughter. This image was the beginning of Paul’s reinvention of himself as a family man, putting his days in the ultimate ‘boy gang’ The Beatles’ behind him.
This photo and its message did not go unnoticed or uncommented on by the other ex-Beatles. Check out George’s parody…. (It is worth pointing out George and Pattie Boyd’s marriage was childless to both their dismay and so the issue of fatherhood may have been a bit of a sore point for George) http://thateventuality.tumblr.com/post/19283783517/oh-george
(thank you Andrea so much for pointing this out !)
To show how startling this image is it is worth comparing this photo to the other photos issued by the other Beatles when their children were born. Please note that I am only using official/semi-official photos that were issued for specific purposes here- as birth announc-ments/photo shoots/portraits. I do not count informal family photos or paparazzi photos as these are not used by the Beatles or their families for official purposes. Therefore while there are many photos of John and Julian and Sean as small children, these were not initially in-tended for public consumption.
Here are links to three photos issued by Ringo and his then wife Maureen on the birth of their three children- Zak born in 1965, Jason in 1967, and Lee in 1970. These are sweet but are fair-ly conventional, with traditional roles in place. Anyone who has read Hunter Davies offical biography knows that Ringo had the strongest attachment to traditional gender roles in family life. This was probably this was due to him wishing to be a better father figure for his children that his father had been to him (His father left Ringo and his mother Elsie when Ringo was three) http://maureenstarkey.tumblr.com/post/7897615966/maureen-ringo-and-zak-1965
http://maureenstarkey.tumblr.com/post/7896804857/maureen-ringo-and-jason
http://maureenstarkey.tumblr.com/post/7896894025/maureen-ringo-lee-jason-and-zak
Julian Lennon’s birth along with John’s marriage to Cynthia was of course initially concealed from the Beatles fans. However by 1965, when they were known to the public, there was at least one photoshoot with Robert Whitaker, who regularly photographed the Beatles during this period. Note that Cynthia holds a mop and is seated holding Julian and John plays the patriarch, standing over them both holding a hoe, either playing along with or gently satirizing (while not challenging) standard gender roles in the family.
http://johnlennonthighs.tumblr.com/image/12587389095
I have found this portrait of the Ono-Lennons by Bob Gruen shortly after Seans’s birth, which presents John in a very different manner. He is not the patriarch of Robert Whitaker’s photo but is happy to be a relaxed nurturing parent– almost maternal. https://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/photo/default.aspx?photographID=1797
It is also quite interesting to compare the portrait of Paul and baby Mary with the photo George and Olivia Harrison issued after Dhani Harrison’s birth. Notice that they are given equal importance- they will both be responsible for nurturing this child. Their matching perms act as a form of ‘mirroring’. In a reversal of standard gender roles, it is George who takes the usually female role of cradling the baby while Olivia takes the usually male role of supporting George. Unlike with the other photos I am discussing, George does not give us a conventional look of paternal pride but rather something tremulous and tender with the awareness that he wants to be a good parent with Olivia reassuring him that things will be fine.
http://not-now-john-lennon.tumblr.com/post/82471012591
However I feel this is not just a photo announcing Dhani’s birth. George and Olivia married shortly after Dhani’s birth (they had intended to marry sooner but George’s father Harold died shortly before the date they had originally intended). George and Olivia never issued a photo of their wedding, which they kept a private affair. In effect I feel this photo is George presenting both his wife and child to the world. However, the photo of George and baby Dhani at the control panel of the studio at Friar Park and the portrait from 1988 of George and Dhani by Terry O’Neill (third image down) which are what I would term classic ‘Lion and cub’ pose- George presents Dhani as his son and heir who will continue his work. Sadly, this proved prophetic as Dhani would have to complete George’s final album ‘Brainwashed’ and along with his mother Olivia administers George’s estate. http://economyclassbeatle.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/whatsoever-wednesday_22.html
To be fair to George, there are several photographs taken by him by Airport paparazzi where is he taking care of young Dhani. He was not ashamed to be seen ‘holding the baby!’
It is heartening to know that Mary McCartney, the baby in the photo, is now a successful photographer in her own right. She also keeps up her mother’s legacy in publicizing vegetarianism.
There is something of a sting in the tale of this photograph. For while Paul McCartney suc-cessfully continued and continues to balance his career with his role as a husband and father (and no grandfather), there was no such easy resolution for Linda Eastman McCartney. While this photograph marks a new beginning for Paul, it also marks a new beginning for Linda as the wife of a world famous man and the mother of his children, with the responsibilities and expectations this would bring from the public. This would not always be easy for Linda, and I hope to examine the ways she has been treated by public opinion in another blog post.
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