Through the Eyes of a Muse: The Photography of Pattie Boyd

Reading about Patty Boyd’s life in a one paragraph summary causes two basic emotions: polite pangs of envy and sheer out-and-out, green-eyed jealousy. Having made her mark in London modeling for the likes of David Bailey and Mary Quant, Boyd was cast as a Beatles fan in the 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night, on […]
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Published on November 30, 2009

Overview

Reading about Patty Boyd's life in a one paragraph summary causes two basic emotions: polite pangs of envy and sheer out-and-out, green-eyed jealousy. Having made her mark in London modeling for the likes of David Bailey and Mary Quant, Boyd was cast as a Beatles fan in the 1964 film A Hard Day's Night, on which set George Harrison became besotted and asked her to marry him immediately (it happened two years later). From there she would take LSD with the band for the first time and experience all manner of fan-frenzy, and introduce The Beatles to the now revered Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Later she would rebuff Mick Jagger, and marry Eric Clapton, inspiring the song "Layla".

To put it simply, Patty Boyd was there. She experienced the swinging sixties, the Carnaby set, the mystical Indian hippy vibes, and yes, the affairs, the addictions and the divorces. Not just a muse, however, Boyd kept her camera close by, taking some of the most intimate portraits of that era known today, free of any press-shot censorship.

A large selection of these images — over fifty in fact — are currently on display in Through the Eyes of a Muse - The Photography of Pattie Boyd at Paddington's Blender Gallery. A smattering of those seen in the photos are both Harrison and Clapton in poses so comfortable they may just make you blush, alongside her friends from The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Cream and more.

Not mere snapshots, Boyd is an accomplished photographer who managed to use her status and emotional proximity to her subjects to capture them in rarely seen moments of honesty as well as turning the lens back to herself every now and then.

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