Sir Elton John hates seeing photos of himself

The award-winning star - who has gifted photographs from his and husband David Furnish's collection - told BBC News: "I would never put myself up on the wall [at home], no thank you."

The exhibition features photographs from the likes of musician Miles Davis and actress Marilyn Monroe.

But the exhibition doesn't include any of Elton on stage.

The 'Tiny Dancer' hitmaker explained: "It's extraordinary that I collect photographs because I don't like being photographed. I find it really painful."

Elton doesn't even like taking photographs. However, he's been wowed by the exhibition in London, and Elton confessed to feeling "so proud" of what he's managed to collect over the years.

He shared: "We've collected these photographs over many years, and some of them I'd forgotten we had, because you buy photographs and they go straight into storage.

"And a lot of them I haven't seen hung properly or hung at all. And so walking through, it's been hung so beautifully and the different sections and wall colours. I couldn't be happier.

"I'm just astonished by what we've collected and so proud of what we've collected because we both love photography so much."

Despite this, Elton didn't appreciate photography until he "got sober in 1990".

The chart-topping star - who developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol in the 70s and 80s - said: "I'd had my photograph taken by all the top photographers, mostly anyway, but I never considered photography as an art form."