Proud Chelsea is pleased to present 1963: The Year of the Revolution, a collaborative photographic exhibition of work by Brian Duffy, Terry O’Neill and Eric Swayne among others. It celebrates the release of a book of the same title by Robin Morgan and Ariel Leve.

1963 saw an extraordinary collision between politics and culture that resulted in a massive social upheaval. In America Bob Dylan was emerging as the poster boy of the revolution, writing songs that would become the soundtrack to the civil rights movement. Dylan was there in Washington when Martin Luther King told the world "I have a dream" electrifying all who listened. In the UK, Beatlemania was taking hold and their music was receiving both commercial and critical success. It was also the year that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards cut their first record as The Rolling Stones and began to build a following who wanted something harder and sexier than what they had heard before. The rise of the Youthquake movement meant for the first time in history these rebellious youths became a commercial and cultural force with the power to command the attention of government and religion which could shape society.

Duffy, O’Neill and Swayne defined the image of this movement with their revolutionary style of photography. Their popularity amongst the in-crowd of 1960’s London gave them a rare insight and allowed them to powerfully document London when it was at the height of cool. Their photographs became a testament to the cultural dynamism of the era in which they were taken. Dominating the London photographic scene and constantly pushing each other to new limits they photographed the 60’s scenesters who transcended their class and background and re-wrote history in remarkable and fascinating ways.

More than five decades on we are still seeing the influence of the changes that 1963 had on the world.

We invite you to come and join us in celebrating this exceptional year of hope and hostility that came to define a generation.

Proud Chelsea Gallery
161 King's Road, Chelsea
London SW3 5XP United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0) 20 73490822
info@proudgalleries.co.uk
www.proud.co.uk

Opening hours
Monday - Sunday
From 10am to 7pm

Related images

  1. Terry O’Neill, Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Mick Jagger, 1963, © Terry O’Neill
  2. Terry O’Neill, The Beatles, London, 1963, © Terry O’Neill
  3. Terry O’Neill, David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton, 1963, © Terry O’Neill