NME:Lou Reed turns up to public playback of his album ‘Transformer’ Read

Lou Reed surprised fans in New York this week when he made an appearance at a playback of his seminal album ‘Transformer’.

Fans for the former Velvet Underground frontman had gathered in a New York bar for a playback of the LP on Monday night (March 4) and were shocked to see a familiar figure in the room. The vinyl listening session was the first of its kind in New York, with organisers High50.com having enjoyed success with the idea in London.

For my sins in a former life, I’ve been forced to spend an inordinate amount of time with musicians in this life. Of course, I love them.

A camera is a wonderful ally. It requires minimal maintenance and provides entry to a world of endless imagery.

My ambition was not to be a great photographer (though that certainly would have been a worthy stance). It was a lust to embrace anything that startled or energized me.

I am not in the business of documenting or revealing personalities. I am in the business of freezing shadows and bottling auras.

Without the rock ‘n rollers, I would not have developed as an image man.

You want to shock people with a bit of mystery and beauty. That’s my favorite kind of shocking.

I’ve never felt like a voyeur, although I’ve certainly done plenty of looking!

There’s an art to looking back - how to celebrate the past without being entrapped by it. Photographs provide the great physical link.

My allegiance was always to the act. I wanted them to be happy. I wasn’t owned by a magazine or a record label.

I smell pictures more than I see them and I hear pictures more than I can smell them. It’s very habit forming.