12:00AM, Tuesday 10 September 2013
It was shot outside Salford Lads Club on a wintery day in 1985.
But despite its humble beginnings - processed in a bedroom/darkroom using chemicals kept in old drinks bottles - Stephen Wright's photo of The Smiths is generally accepted to be the most famous image of the band.
It was used on the inside sleeve for The Queen is Dead album, and will feature in an exhibition which opens at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead on Tuesday.
Stephen, 53, said: "I'm proud of taking a photograph of a band that I love and that people still enjoy."
The picture is one of 34 being displayed as part of The Smiths and Friends; a collection of photos of iconic musicians taken by Stephen during roughly a decade, starting in 1983.
The father-of-one from Caversham went to college in Liverpool and then Manchester, where he started taking photos as a student and sending them to music papers and record companies.
As well as The Smiths, other musicians he snapped include James Brown, Prince and Madonna.
The exhibition includes artists he particularly enjoyed listening to or photographing, and his favourite image is of Morrissey holding flowers above his head, which he had to climb into the lighting rigging to take.
Stephen still works as a photographer, shooting wedding, portrait and corporate images.
"I'm always curious and photography has given me the opportunity to meet people and gain entry to places that I would not have otherwise," he said.
His pictures have featured in exhibitions in Manchester and London, but this is his first solo show.
It runs at the centre in Altwood Road until Sunday, September 29.
Visit www.smithsphotos.com for details.
*To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Maidonian Jeff Lloyd will host The Vinyl Frontier - The Queen is Dead on Friday, September 13 from 8pm.
As well as hearing the album in full on vinyl, along with anecdotes, guests will be able to take part in a Q&A session with Stephen.
Visit www.smithsphotos.com for more details.
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