I'd photographed musicians before but this was different. Syd was very charismatic, and he had the aura of a poete maudit, which made him the perfect subject for me - I realised that rock n' rollers were the modern equivalent of all the poets I was so enamoured with.
Somebody had given me a copy of 'Hunky Dory,' which had yet to be a hit, although it was starting to percolate. I'd seen a couple of pictures of David, with his interesting hairdo and outfits, and I decided to seek him out, which wasn't difficult back then, as he was eager to do any kind of publicity.
It's a miracle that David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop are actually still alive today, given how hard they lived.
I did not want to be somebody who lived off his reputation. I wanted to continue to be part of the modern music scene.
