From being punched by David Bowie and Mick Jagger to being headlocked by Pierce Brosnan, legendary photographer David Koppel spent decades chasing the world’s biggest stars — and getting remarkably close to them.
Before smartphones, Instagram and celebrity news became a 24-hour business, getting an exclusive photograph meant knowing who to call, where to wait and, sometimes, how quickly you could run.
For photographer David Koppel, the world of 1980s and 1990s Fleet Street photography involved late nights, secret tips, hotel stakeouts, car chases, back doors, rival photographers and plenty of nerve.
Now, Koppel is opening up that extraordinary archive in Spotlight, his second photographic book, due to be published in November 2026.
Following his 2025 book Limelight, the new volume looks beyond the clubs and into the photographer’s relentless pursuit of some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Princess Diana, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Paul McCartney, Kate Moss and Bob Dylan.
And judging by the stories behind the photographs, Koppel didn’t always have the easiest time getting the shot.
Punched by Bowie, Thumped by Jagger and Headlocked by James Bond
Koppel’s career reads like a bizarre celebrity action film.
He was punched by David Bowie, swung at by Mick Jagger, whacked with a newspaper by Bob Dylan, and even found himself in a headlock courtesy of Pierce Brosnan.
He was also stared down by Diana, ignored by Marlon Brando and, on one occasion, scolded by Joanna Lumley.
The photographs, however, were often worth the risk.
Koppel’s archive captures a very different era of celebrity photography, when getting an exclusive could mean following a limousine through London, waiting outside a hotel for hours or relying on a contact to reveal where a famous face would appear next.
There were no smartphones to instantly upload a photograph. Instead, Koppel and his contemporaries had to shoot on film, process it, make prints and get them onto newspaper picture desks before their competitors.
As Koppel puts it:
“Hide, seek, chase, snap.”
Princess Diana — London, 1991
One of the most remarkable stories in Spotlight involves Diana, Princess of Wales.
Koppel wasn’t even on the official photographer rota for the Royal Film Premiere of Stepping Out in London in 1991.
So, rather than give up, he bought a ticket.
He then reportedly smuggled a dismantled Nikon past security, reassembled it inside a toilet and posed as an usher.
When Diana arrived and greeted Liza Minnelli, Koppel got the photograph he had been chasing.
The victory was short-lived, however, when a Buckingham Palace aide challenged him.
Koppel asked The Sun not to credit him for the image.
The following morning, his name was prominently displayed alongside the photograph on the front page.
His reaction?
“Perfectly spelt, large as life. There goes the knighthood.”
David Bowie — London, 1987
Koppel’s encounter with David Bowie was considerably more physical.
After spotting Bowie’s limousine, Koppel followed it to a Soho club. He eventually made his way into the building through a fire escape and discovered Bowie talking to Mick Jagger in the kitchen.
Bowie told him not to take any photographs.
Koppel carried on.
According to Koppel, Bowie then climbed onto a table and confronted him before punching him in the head.
“You are SO rude,” Bowie reportedly shouted.
Koppel’s film was confiscated and he was thrown out.
But the relationship with Bowie didn’t end there.
Just six days later, Koppel was the only photographer invited into a VIP room to photograph the musician at a charity luncheon.
Marlon Brando — London, 1992
Sometimes, the best celebrity photographs came from simply being in the right place at the right time.
A tip that Marlon Brando was at Heathrow Airport initially proved useless, but Koppel and another photographer eventually ended up at a Chinese restaurant in Bayswater.
Then Brando walked in.
He sat at the table next to them.
Koppel waited in a parked car until the actor eventually left. When Brando got into a taxi, Koppel opened the door and fired six frames in around two seconds.
The photograph subsequently appeared across national newspapers, reportedly earning Koppel around £5,000.
As he explains:
“I have always had a sixth sense for famous people. I seem to be able to feel the presence of them even in the most unexpected places.”
Mick Jagger — Marquee Club, London, 1992
Koppel’s encounter with Mick Jagger was captured almost frame by frame.
One of just four photographers permitted to photograph a rare Keith Richards solo gig, Koppel spotted Jagger watching from a balcony with his brother.
He asked the Rolling Stones frontman for a photograph of the pair together.
Jagger refused.
Koppel continued shooting.
Jagger eventually stuck out his tongue before swinging a punch that sent Koppel stumbling backwards.
The sequence was subsequently published across the tabloids.
It’s perhaps one of the clearest examples of just how unpredictable celebrity photography could be during the era.
Bob Dylan — London, 1993
Bob Dylan provided Koppel with not one but several memorable encounters.
Dylan was performing six nights at the Hammersmith Apollo, leaving photographers waiting outside his hotel.
When Dylan’s driver spotted the photographers, he accelerated into an underground car park. Koppel ran after the vehicle and managed to take a couple of photographs through the window, accidentally capturing Dylan’s son Jakob beside him.
The resulting photograph was published internationally.
But Koppel’s next encounter with Dylan produced an even stranger story.
He spotted the musician leaving the hotel in a battered yellow Hertz van and followed on foot.
The van eventually stopped in Berkeley Square.
As Dylan stepped out with a newspaper rolled in his hand, Koppel raised his camera.
Dylan responded by swinging the newspaper at him.
A bodyguard then reportedly jumped out and grabbed Koppel.
Another photographer managed to capture the moment — creating yet another photograph that ended up in the newspapers.
Pierce Brosnan — Monte Carlo, 1994–97
Koppel also spent time following Pierce Brosnan while the actor was filming GoldenEye in Monte Carlo.
A tip from a friendly electrician led him to the film set, where Koppel spent a week photographing Brosnan.
Despite the circumstances, the two apparently became almost friendly.
At one point, Brosnan grabbed Koppel in a headlock and ran down the street shouting:
“I’ve got him, I’ve got him.”
Three years later, the pair crossed paths again in a hotel bar in Phuket.
Koppel reminded Brosnan about the headlock.
This time, the reaction wasn’t quite as friendly.
Brosnan reportedly called him a “f***ing paparazzi scum” before walking away to swim with his baby son.
Koppel says that encounter marked the end of his paparazzi career.
Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley — Cannes, 1994
Koppel’s work also took him into the world of celebrity relationships.
Following the enormous attention surrounding Elizabeth Hurley’s famous Versace dress at the London premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Koppel photographed Hurley and Hugh Grant arriving in Cannes.
The photograph sold to The Sun for £3,500.
The newspaper reportedly flew another photographer from London with a wire machine so the image could be transmitted in time for the front page.
The following evening, Koppel spotted Grant and Hurley again while reversing his car in Antibes.
He photographed them before helping a lost Grant find his way to the train station.
Grant then apparently provided Koppel with another useful piece of information: he was taking a 6am flight to London.
Koppel was waiting at the airport.
Hurley, according to Koppel, was less than impressed.
A Lost World of Fleet Street Photography
What makes Spotlight particularly fascinating is the glimpse it provides into a form of photography that has largely disappeared.
Koppel’s working life depended on an enormous informal network of drivers, doormen, PRs, hotel employees, informers and fellow photographers.
A tip could lead to a hotel. A hotel could lead to a restaurant. A restaurant could lead to a car chase.
And once the photograph had been taken, the race wasn’t over.
Photographers still had to process their film, make prints and get them to newspaper picture desks before another photographer could sell the same image.
Koppel could photograph Elton John at lunchtime, race across London for another assignment and then return to Wapping to process his film.
The stakes were high, the competition was fierce and every exclusive mattered.
Film premieres, concerts, parties, fashion shows, theatre openings, restaurants, galleries, book launches and awards ceremonies all became potential hunting grounds.
Wherever the celebrities were, Koppel wanted to be there.
“Another chase. Another exclusive. Another payday.”
From Limelight to Spotlight
Spotlight follows Limelight, Koppel’s first book, which was published in 2025 and documented his time as the house photographer at London’s legendary Limelight nightclub.
While Limelight focused on the club and the stars who passed through its doors, Spotlight follows Koppel himself as he pursued celebrities across London, Hollywood, Cannes, New York and Monaco.
Together, the two books offer a photographic record of celebrity culture during the 1980s and 1990s — from the nightclubs where stars gathered to the streets, hotels and restaurants where photographers tried to capture them away from the spotlight.
The archive includes rare and previously unseen images of Princess Diana, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Mick Jagger, Joanna Lumley, Jack Nicholson, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Paul McCartney, Kate Moss, Eric Clapton, Elizabeth Taylor, Sting, Bruce Willis, Rod Stewart, George Michael, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.
Spotlight by David Koppel
Spotlight by David Koppel will be published in November 2026, priced at £75.
You can find out more about the book and pre-order it through the official David Koppel website.
Koppel’s work offers a fascinating snapshot of a period when celebrity photography was built on instinct, persistence and sometimes sheer audacity — long before a celebrity could post their own photograph to millions of followers within seconds.
For anyone fascinated by celebrity culture, photography, Fleet Street, paparazzi history or the biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s, Spotlight promises to open up the stories behind the photographs as much as the photographs themselves.
