Shooting Stars

Before social media, the backstage snapshot was the only way for most fans to meet Madonna, Whitney Houston, or Paul McCartney

- CONNOR GAREL

I SHOT QUEEN at Maple Leaf Gardens, in downtown Toronto, in 1982, when I was fourteen. I had brought my uncle’s camera with me only because my cousin said it would be a good idea. It was. The concert hall was packed with fans, and even though I was quite tall for my age — and just five to seven rows back from the stage — I had to stand on my seat to snap the pictures I wanted. I took those images to get processed at the Japan Camera shop that used to be on Yonge Street, and I waited in one of those shops that sells posters to rock-and-roll heads. The guy working the counter had been at the Queen concert too, and when I told him I’d taken pictures, he offered to buy a roll for $150. It was a lot of money for a kid.

And, for the many years after that, shooting live music is what I did.