Sir Elton John: ‘I collect for the beauty, not the value. I’m in awe of these things’

THE GUARDIAN
By Sean O'Hagan
Elton John with his photography collection at home in west London: ‘I just want people to react in awe and wonder, like I did when I first saw these works. I really hope they do.’ Photograph: © Joseph Guay
As modernist prints from his collection go on show, the star talks homophobia, Brexit Britain and how photography became his second greatest passion. The extent of Elton John’s love for, and knowledge of, photography can be gauged by the 200 or so modernist works from his collection currently on display at Tate Modern in an exhibition called The Radical Eye. It traces the fertile experimentation of the period between 1920 and 1950 and includes iconic images by masters of the medium such as Man Ray, Edward Weston, André Kertész and Edward Steichen. “For me it’s the creative high point,” says John, “when artists like Man Ray and Moholy-Nagy were constantly pushing the boundaries of the form. [link]