That’s debatable, but Brennan’s protectiveness over Moss is endearing – you can see why celebrities trust him. In 2005, Moss lost millions of pounds’ worth of brand contracts after a newspaper published photographs of her appearing to snort cocaine. Has he ever photographed a celebrity doing something they shouldn’t? “Well, I’ve got quite a few accidental pictures of people that I’ve intentionally held back because it doesn’t align with the story that was being told at the time,” he says carefully. “But I don’t have any career-destroying ones. I’ve never been interested in damaging anyone’s reputation – after all, that would only damage mine.”
Growing up in southern California, Brennan was bewitched by the glamour of old Hollywood. His family home backed on to a drive-in movie theatre, and he could see the entire screen from his bedroom window. “So on Wednesday nights, which was Classic Hollywood night, I would lie in bed, pick up the radio frequency with my little radio, and watch old movies all night long.”
His first job was working as a driver for his father’s Los Angeles video production company, though he took photos in his spare time. “I’d go out at night on my mountain bike, cycle around the haunts, get my pictures and develop them in my bathroom until morning,” he says. When Brennan turned 18, he came to London – where he still lives with his wife of 35 years and their 20-year-old son – and met up with a friend who had become a royal photographer. He tagged along on one of his assignments and saw the late Queen, Prince Philip and Princess Diana. He was inspired to buy his own camera, and soon he was attending red-carpet events. “I had no intention of becoming a press photographer, it was just a hobby. I don’t think I made a penny for the first six years I was doing it.”
Newspaper picture desks began to call, and he spent his nights zooming around London, then developing his photos in a Soho basement before dawn. “I don’t think I saw daylight for 20 years,” smiles Brennan. Two of his first major subjects were Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Diana, in 1991, then Taylor with Michael Jackson for an Aids benefit in 2000. In fact, Brennan had grown so friendly with Taylor over the years that she was the one to tip him off that Jackson was about to turn up at the Royal Albert Hall – another image he chose for the book. “She was always so sweet, so polite, and she absolutely loved having her picture taken.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
