Photography is Sir Elton John’s biggest passion outside of music.
The iconic singer-songwriter is an avid art collector and is particularly fond of photography – even though he is useless with a camera himself.
Recalling how his passion for photography developed in 1991, Sir Elton shared: "I’d just gotten sober back then and it was like I was seeing with clear eyes. I was in a chateau in the south of France and David Fahey, who owns a gallery in LA, showed me some prints by Herb Ritts and Horst and Irving Penn and that was it.
"Suddenly, I discovered something that I had been surrounded by for years and never noticed as an art form despite having had my portrait taken by the likes of Penn and [Richard] Avedon.
"I just flew into it and began to amass prints at auction and in private sales. It became the greatest passion I have outside of music."
Sir Elton said that although he is unable to take a good photograph himself, some of his well-known musician friends are talented with a camera in hand.
Asked if he is a good photographer, Sir Elton told the Observer newspaper: "Nah, I can’t take a photograph to save my life. The singer John Grant is a great photographer, though he hasn’t published any yet. And Michael Stipe is fantastic. I’m not."
Sir Elton John reveals one of his big passions
