Facts about my famous photo of ‘Party girl Kate Moss’: Best photo by Greg Brennan | Art and design

Me he drew Kate Moss twice twice. The first time was probably around 1990, during the days of Johnny Depp. I shot him with Jefferson Hack and a lot of his friends, but it was at official events, Topshop launches and things like that.

There was a time when whatever he did, 200 artists would show up. For his 33rd birthday, I was asked to attend his party at the Dorchester Hotel. Then I got a call that he was at the Donmar Warehouse theater watching Rhys Ifans’ play. “Can I go over there and take a picture of her leaving before I get to the birthday party?” When I got there, there must have been 200-250 people outside. They had the front door surrounded – artists, cameramen, fans, you name it. It was absolutely packed. I quickly realized that having a good photo was very difficult.

I decided to go back to the birthday party. But on the way to my car, I went through the back door just to do it. I used to picture Nicole Kidman at the Donmar leaving the back (when she was in The Blue Room in 1998), and she always came out the same door. As I walked in, the door was open and Moss was sitting on the steps. Pete (Doherty, his partner at the time) stood on the right side of the picture. He looked at me, he recognized me because I have been photographing him for years. I started drawing the picture. He didn’t answer, he didn’t say anything.

As he was getting out, I opened the door of the waiting car as he got in. The artists are starting to arrive. It sounded like horses stomping, 200 guys flying around the corner. He realized that he had been tricked but he just left and no one followed him and he arrived at his birthday party without complaining.

I didn’t shoot the party, I left everyone else and was home by 7.30pm. I prepared six pictures and sent them around the newspaper, I fell asleep. I woke up the next day and was shocked to see that every front page had used this image.

That year, 2007, all papers were doing “Kate Moss party girl”, “Party Girl Kate” story. I think a lot of people interpret this picture as him being drunk or that it was early in the morning, because the tabloids are always trying to draw attention to him. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. It was 6.30 pm in the evening. If Kate was falling out the door that night drunk, it’s not a picture I’d want to paint. I love beautiful Kate.

The picture remains familiar. Most of the people who bought his limited editions are women, from 16 years old, to about 45 or 50. Many girls say that it is their symbol, they look up to him, and I think that this picture only caught him at the peak of his modeling career and fame. I met a photographer for Vogue who said that he tried to recreate the image in his studio but it was not possible. She described it as “a cross between a ballerina and Janis Joplin”. That made sense to me. They have a certain fallen angel quality about them.

While this is a photo that went viral and seems to resonate with everyone, it’s not my favorite photo from the night. There is one of them stop walking to me. That has always been my favorite, with her hair blowing in the wind. It is an amazing fashion icon.

I have been doing celebrity photography for 37 years; it has changed a lot. I liked the 90s because there weren’t many artists at that time. I used to go to work at night, edit and create my photos and leave them at the photo desks at 6am. This is how I quickly learned the art of photography. If I wasn’t well, I couldn’t eat.

Social media has changed a lot. It’s easy for celebrities to promote themselves when in the 90s, we were their radio hosts. Nothing has changed in terms of celebrities being photographed. I find them all receptive, more than happy, because I like to watch movies where they live for self-improvement. It goes hand in hand. I won’t be at their door for two days. It’s insulting at that point.

Big Shot: Photos by Greg Brennan is published by ACC Art Books.

Greg Brennan’s CV

Born: California, 1973
Above: To have my own portrait of the queen is to enter the Royal Photographic Collection
Top tips: Don’t give up on your dreams.