A new photo exhibition has opened in London featuring some of the most famous images of the American rock-and-roll band The Beach Boys as part of a new anthology charting their career.
The book and exhibition, at the Iconic Images Gallery in London’s Piccadilly, includes previously unseen pictures of the band as well as childhood photographs.
Speaking to The Art Newspaper, Mike Love, the band’s lead vocalist and co-founder, says that he grew up around photography due to his father’s passion for the subject. “My father had a dark room in our home. He took some fabulous photos of the family, of my mother,” he says. “When we went on holiday he would take lots of photos. In fact, some of them have ended up in this book; there’s one of me at the Grand Canyon when I was about 12 years old.”
Studio shot by Ken Veeder during the making of Pet Sounds in 1966 © Capitol Image Archive
The exhibition also features images by Ken Veeder, the head of Capitol Records’ photography department in the 1960s, who shot The Beach Boys’ historic Paradise Cove 1962 beachside photo series. There are also photos by Earl Leaf, who travelled with the band to Europe; Julian Wasser, the former Time magazine photographer who covered the band’s 1965 concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles; and Guy Webster, who also shot The Rolling Stones, The Mamas & The Papas and Barbra Streisand among others.
The book has a section on the band’s political history, in particular their opposition to the Vietnam War. Lead guitarist Carl Wilson—Love’s cousin—refused to be drafted into the military and avoided extended jail time after the band agreed to perform a series of charity concerts as part of his community service.
Love’s own politics are hard to categorise. A vegetarian who practises transcendental meditation and wears Indian ayurveda rings during traditional Hindu ceremonies, he has described himself as a progressive. However, he has also performing fundraising events for former US president Donald Trump with his bandmate Bruce Johnston—an act that other former members distanced themselves from.
Summer Days, taken by Ken Veeder in 1965, features on the cover of The Beach Boys’ album, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) © Capitol Image Archive
One key issue that Love is concerned about is ocean pollution, with some of the proceeds from the book going towards the Surfrider Foundation, which seeks to protect coastal ecosystems. Love says: “The pollution of the ocean is the most potentially devastating issue because if you kill the ocean you’re committing mass suicide.”
The new anthology is the first book to cover the band’s entire career. Asked why it has taken so long for such a publication to be made, Johnston says: “Until now, nobody asked.” As well as photos, the book includes words from all the bandmates, including Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson who have since died. Johnston says: “These are our words. There’s nobody writing it apart from us.”
• The Beach Boys Exhibit, Iconic Images Gallery, London, until 27 May
• The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys, Genesis Publications, hb, published April 2024
• A new documentary, The Beach Boys, will be released on Disney+ on 24 May
