Photo exhibit finds love, connection in John Lennon's 'Lost Weekend' in Palm Beach

Get ready to see John Lennon like you’ve never seen him before.

A pop-up exhibit of candid photographs of the former Beatle, taken during his 18-month “Lost Weekend" from late 1973 to early 1975, is coming to the Keshet Gallery in Boca Raton the weekend of Feb. 16.

And the photographer who took them will be there, too.

“The Lost Weekend – the Photography of May Pang” showcases 31 images that cast a vastly different light on a period of Lennon’s life known mainly in rock lore for its overindulgence and excess partying.

Look at Pang’s photographs, and it’s clear the “Lost Weekend” was also about family, friends, love and reconnections.

The intimate glimpse is made possible because Pang was not just traveling in his circle, she was also his lover — one he took at the urging of, and while on hiatus from, his wife, Yoko Ono.

Love may be complicated, but the images collected are not.

There’s Lennon and his son Julian opening Christmas presents on Palm Beach in 1974 (five years before he bought El Solano on A1A and became a brief part-time island resident). There’s Lennon at Disney World walking unnoticed through the Magic Kingdom masses. There’s Lennon walking his dogs through a park in upstate New York.

“Photography was my hobby. I just always had a camera and took pictures,’’ Pang said in a phone interview recently as she sat in a Jacksonville art gallery, a few minutes before the opening of that exhibit.

“I would just pick up the camera and think, ‘Oh, that’s a good shot’ and I would just take them. Of course, as time has gone on (the images) have become iconic because no one else has taken photos like these.’’

Exhibit a companion to John Lennon documentary

The traveling exhibit started last summer, a companion piece to "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story," a documentary about May and her history with Lennon. (It’s available on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.)

The movie and photo exhibit document Lennon during his most artistically and commercially productive post-Beatles period when he recorded the albums “Mind Games” and “Walls and Bridges,’’ which included his only No. 1 single, “Whatever Gets You Through The Night.’’ On the song “#9 Dream” Pang can be heard whispering John’s name. Another song, “Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox),” was written about Pang.

Pang also encouraged Lennon to reconnect with his family and friends, including a reunion with his Beatles songwriting partner Paul McCartney that led to a jam session. And it was Pang who arranged for Julian Lennon to visit his father for the first time in almost three years, a reunion that took place in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Disney World.

Moments from those “lost weekend” events unfold through the lens of Pang’s Nikkormat 35mm camera.

She used a Polaroid SX-70 on a few shots, but mainly it was the Nikon, with a 105-meter portrait lens, capturing intimate and tender images of Lennon with his son Julian, Pang, and a host of musicians including Harry Nilsson and Keith Moon as well as the three other former Beatles, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Viewers are always impressed with candid images

The unique experience of looking at the candid images while talking to the photographer who not only took them but knew Lennon intimately almost always draws the same response from visitors to the exhibit, Pang said.

“They get very emotional. They’ve never seen this side of John. They're amazed. They've never seen him smile as much as or look so relaxed as he does in these photos,’’ she said.

“One young man had tears streaming down his face. He bought a print of John’s favorite photo, the one of him walking the dogs in the wilderness. He was crying, so I just hugged him. Others say, ‘This is the closest I’ll ever get to John because I’ve never talked to anybody who knew John personally.’’’

Pang said she usually propped the camera on her shoulder ― “the lens was heavy’’ — then put it in motion when inspiration struck.

While Lennon understood how to use the press, he didn’t particularly enjoy formal photo shoots or paparazzi, Pang said. But she said he always felt comfortable when she aimed her camera at him.

“When I started taking photos, he said, ‘Let me see your pictures.’ I showed him, he went, ‘Oh. They're not bad. OK. Carry on,’’’ she recalled.

“He liked the way I took photos of him. He liked the way I made him look in these photos.’’

At the time, decades before social media, Pang considered the photographs personal and “definitely not” for public consumption.

“I would take them, I put them under the bed. John bought a bed with a storage thing underneath it and I threw them all under there. Who would have thought 50 years later they’d be on a gallery wall?’’ she said with a laugh.

Many appear in three books Pang has published: "Loving John: The Untold Story," "John Lennon: The Lost Weekend ― Living, Loving and Making Rock & Roll" and "Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon."

Taking the Lennon photos on the road

After the digital release of the documentary "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story," promoter Scott Segelbaum, who curates rock-themed art shows, finally convinced Pang to go on the road with her photographs.

“He was after me for like six years and I wasn't ready to bring them out,’’ she said.

Included in the exhibit is the only known photograph of Lennon signing legal documents completing the dissolution of The Beatles at a Disney World hotel in 1974.

The breakup of The Beatles came a day or two after Lennon, his son Julian and Pang left the Sun and Surf Condominiums on Sunrise Avenue in Palm Beach. They were guests of Morris Levy, a music industry executive.

“We took over Levy’s apartment for a short while. After Christmas we went to Orlando for a couple of days and The Polynesian where the lawyer met us,’’ she recalled.

Those are the kinds of stories Pang, 73, will happily tell anyone who approaches her during her appearances at the Keshet Gallery in Boca Raton.

Admission is free. Copies of photographs will be for sale.

Pang, who visits Boca Raton often to spend time with her best friend, Pamela Maythenyi, said she knows that many visitors to her exhibit will be seeing the photos for the first time.

“And they’ve never heard me speak,’’ she said. “So, I feel good telling them stories about John and having those conversations with them.’’

If you go

What: “The Lost Weekend – the Photography of May Pang” featuring candid photos of John Lennon and friends coinciding with the digital release of the feature film documentary on Pang and Lennon’s relationship “The Lost Weekend – A Love Story.”

When:  3-8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 16; noon-8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17; noon-5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18

Where:  Keshet Gallery, 8214 Glades Road (in Lakeside Centre), Boca Raton

Information: 561- 359-7918; www.keshetgallery.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Photos of John Lennon in Palm Beach come to town in May Pang exhibit