Photographer to share secrets behind shots of stars

A celebrity photographer who has toured with hundreds of famous performers over the past four decades is to share the stories behind his shots in a new exhibition.

Danny Clifford has worked with the likes of Queen, Oasis, The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters and Beyonce.

The 66-year-old has described himself as "the most famous photographer that nobody has heard of".

"I've photographed a lot of people and I've been in some ridiculously crazy situations and I thought why don't I talk about it more?" he said.

Clifford's one-man show, Rock Stars Don't Smile, will be held in Lancashire to show off his work and reveal some of the anecdotes he has collected along the way.

"If you asked someone in the street to name a famous photographer, I'd never come up. People look at the pictures and go 'I didn't know that was you'," he said.

"So I thought now's the time to say a bit more about myself before I fall off the conveyer belt of life.

"I think they're interesting stories. When you see a photograph it's all well and good looking at them, but if you knew the story of how it happened, who was involved, who said what - I would find it really interesting."

The name of the show was inspired by an encounter with Liam Gallagher in 2005.

Clifford was photographing famous faces at a concert for the Teenager Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall at the time.

"The room was pretty rowdy and my job was to get the shots of the celebrities smiling with the kids, in what was a limited amount of time - and Liam was not making things easy," he said.

"'All right everybody, big smiles. There we go,' I announced, playing the part of the happy-clappy event photographer. I got the shot.

"Then again, 'OK, everyone look this way. Smile.' This continued throughout the evening until, at one point, just as I’m about to take the next shot, Liam began to swagger towards me with his finger aimed at my face.

“'You told me to smile. Rockstars don’t smile' he said, jabbing his finger at me. We stared at each other for a moment. Here we go, I thought, preparing myself for a scrap with one of the world’s leading frontmen.

"After a pause, he seemed to decide against it and sauntered back into position."

Another particularly memorable job was photographing Nelson Mandela in the Arctic.

"I flew up with Brian May from Queen, Robert Plant, Led Zepplin and Annie Lennox and he flew up from South Africa for a concert for him and it was fascinating being up there with him," he said.

"I've done Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Johnny Cash. And Status Quo are one of my favourites."

Clifford, who is from London, continued: "John Lennon was one I really wanted to work with.

"It was all arranged that I was going to go to his apartment, but when I was in London my girlfriend called me up and asked if I'd heard the news that he'd been murdered.

"I'd love to have photographed Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix, but he died when I was still in short trousers at junior school."

Rock Stars Don't Smile will be held at Barnoldswick Music and Arts Centre in Lancashire on 8 June, with more venues potentially announced across the country at a later date.

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