Music icon Sir Elton John has revealed that he has an insatiable passion for photography, which began in 1991 when he had "just gotten sober". 

He told The Observer: "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."

When asked if he is a skilled photographer, Sir Elton John admitted that he isn't great at taking pictures and just prefers to admire the talent in others: "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."

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Watch Sir Elton in action here: