GLASGOW street photographer Brian Anderson has snapped a galaxy of stars here in the city and beyond.
At the height of BritPop, when Glasgow was awash with supermodels and pop stars (like Kate Moss, the Gallagher brothers and Amy Winehouse) he captured them all on camera, often clashing with minders in his bid to get the best shot.
He even managed to get an exclusive picture of Prince from INSIDE the legendary singer’s limo after his infamous gig at The Garage nightclub in 1995.
Sadly, however, the negatives have been lost….
“It was chaos, he was surrounded by security coming out of the Garage, and there were decoys and minders everywhere,” grins Brian. “I managed to get inside the car by sheer fluke, and then the minders dragged me out. But that picture did appear on the front pages of national newspapers.
“It was in the days before digital photography and I left my film at one of the newspaper offices, and the negatives were lost.”
READ MORE: Rutherglen woman on how Glasgow Celtic's famous victory changed her life
He adds: “But it was my big break – and pretty surreal.”
The first celebrity Brian photographed was boxer Muhammad Ali at a Glasgow book signing in the early 1990s.
“I told him he was my first and he replied that it would be ‘all downhill’ from then on,” laughs Brian. “Modest as ever.”
Brian’s picture of Amy Winehouse leaving the Barrowland in 2007 was the last photo of the singer taken in Glasgow.
“I had the biggest set of ladders ever,” he says. “I stood on them until about 2am in the middle of winter to get this one picture.”
On one occasion, Brian sneaked into Tower Records to get photos of Bon Jovi who were playing for the launch of a new single.
“I was spotted and thrown out by security, but I got one of Jon in the car,” he says. “There was always lots of chaos. There was a huge buzz about Glasgow back then – all the stars came here.”
READ MORE: When Glasgow rocked at 40 gigs in 12 hours for Big Day music festival
The list of celebrities Brian has photographed includes legendary singer Al Green at the Concert Hall, Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry at the Barras, Kate Moss at One Devonshire Gardens, Ewan McGregor, Leo Sayer, Billy Connolly and footballer Paul Gascoigne.
As well as his celebrity pictures, Brian, who grew up in Blackhill in Glasgow, is well-known for candid shots of Glasgow people on the streets of the city, and his portraits of notorious crime figures.
He has recently made a documentary, Kick Out the Jams: The Story of XFM, about the celebrated radio station. View the trailer on YouTube here.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here