{"title":"Books","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-limelight","title":"Limelight","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGEORGE MICHAEL, BOY GEORGE, LEIGH BOWERY, BELINDA CARLISLE, LEMMY FROM MOTORHEAD, BANANARAMA, DEREK JARMAN, MALCOLM MCLAREN, RUN DMC AND THE BEASTIE BOYS CAPTURED AT “BRITAIN’S MOST FAMOUS NIGHTSPOT” IN NEW PHOTOBOOK LIMELIGHT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePHOTOGRAPHER DAVID KOPPEL OPENS HIS ARCHIVE FOR THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF LIMELIGHT NIGHTCLUB CAPTURING THE CULTURAL EXPLOSION AT 80’S BRITAIN’S MOST ICONIC LONDON CLUB\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhotographer David Koppel became a titan of paparazzi photography with era-defining photographs that broke headlines around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut his journey started when he was Limelight’s house photographer, capturing regulars like Boy George, George Michael, Johnny Rotten, Leigh Bowery, Nile Rogers, Belinda Carlisle, Brian May, Kim Wilde, Iggy Pop, Jeff Beck, Bananarama, Malcolm McLaren, Lemmy from Motorhead, Billy Idol and Shane MacGowan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn new photobook Limelight, published September 2025, David Koppel captures the characters and the club that shaped 80s pop culture at its most candid, including many previously unseen images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“With fame comes money, adulation – and David Koppel. He shoots from the hip, hoping for a more candid shot than his rivals. He is the celebrity’s private nightmare.” – \u003cstrong\u003eLondon Evening Standard\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eForty years ago, notorious nightclub Limelight transformed an abandoned 1880s Presbyterian church into what The Times hailed “Britain’s most famous nightspot”. Opened in 1985, the club soon became the beating heart of London nightlife for 1980s pop culture and a magnet for its most influential figures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusicians and actors of the moment, many on the cusp of superstardom, would rub shoulders with 80’s London’s most stylish and influential clubbers, with Koppel there to document it all. It was Thatcher’s Britain, a time of bankers and big hair. New Romantics and US rap legends shared the dancefloor with British TV stars, comedians, punk rockers, film stars and fashionistas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1986, Bob Geldof had his stag do at the Limelight before marrying Paula Yates. Even King Charles spent a night there in the late 1990s. It’s where David Koppel captured rare photos of Boy George and George Michael together. Limelight eventually closed in 2003.\u003cbr\u003eThe club was so dark, Koppel would often ask guests to hold a match to their faces so he could see to focus. The black and white photographs were of the moment, Koppel recalls “every newspaper and most pop magazines hadn’t yet discovered colour. There was no internet, no mobile phones, no digital cameras. It seems unthinkable now.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I said I didn’t like nightclubs, I didn’t drink, I wasn’t interested in celebrities, and I was a ‘serious’ photographer. They said, ‘We’ll pay you for one night.’ That one night lasted a year and paved the way for a decade on Fleet Street.” Koppel continues\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“If everybody is dressed in Armani, it's boring. If everybody is super-sequins, it's boring. The most important thing you can do in a club is to draw an eclectic crowd. In the end, they entertain each other” – \u003cstrong\u003eLimelight proprietor Peter Gatien\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrought together for the first time, Koppel’s Limelight archive provides a fascinating social history of an influential moment in London club culture. “This small collection of works is a celebration of the nightlife of a time gone by, the start of a personal journey and an evocation of the irrepressible spirit of the 1980s.” Limelight by David Koppel is available September 2025.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The book really captures the spirit of the club” – \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Moss, Culture Club\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The perfect artist for our celebrity-obsessed age, catching our gods without their minders, their make-up and the airbrush and reminding us that they, too, have feet of clay.” - \u003cstrong\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/strong\u003e on David Koppel\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e","brand":"David Koppel","offers":[{"title":"First Edition","offer_id":52649226895689,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Leigh Bowery","offer_id":52649226928457,"sku":null,"price":300.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Johnny Rotten \u0026 Lemmy","offer_id":52655556755785,"sku":null,"price":300.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - The Georges","offer_id":52655556788553,"sku":null,"price":300.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Charlie's Bum","offer_id":52655556821321,"sku":null,"price":300.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0894\/1951\/4185\/files\/CoverMockup_x1920_d9032a7c-290e-48ff-9e74-ebc810117ffc.jpg?v=1757109637"},{"product_id":"spotlight","title":"Spotlight","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDavid Koppel\u003c\/em\u003e served his photographic apprenticeship in the rough-and-tumble world of the Fleet Street paparazzi in 1980’s London when his skills captured the very essence of the Me Decade that gave birth to the celebrity culture of today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKoppel’s classic photographs of \u003cem\u003eFrank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Madonna, George Michael, Prince, Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Tina Turner, Elton John \u0026amp; the Royal Family appeared\u003c\/em\u003e in every major newspaper and magazine and marked him out as that rarity amongst press photographers: the artist with a camera.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe spent a decade chasing the biggest names in the world — and doing whatever it took to get the picture, through London’s clubs, hotels, restaurants, concerts, parties, film premieres and streets — and wherever they went next.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSometimes he was invited. Mostly he wasn’t.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow, Koppel opens his archive to reveal the stories behind a career spent chasing the photographs that Fleet Street wanted most: the skulduggery, ingenuity, nerve and sheer persistence it took to get the shot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePunched by \u003cem\u003eBowie\u003c\/em\u003e. Thumped by \u003cem\u003eJagger\u003c\/em\u003e. Whacked by \u003cem\u003eDylan\u003c\/em\u003e. Headlocked by \u003cem\u003eJames Bond\u003c\/em\u003e. Stared down by \u003cem\u003eDiana, Princess of Wales\u003c\/em\u003e. Ignored by \u003cem\u003eMarlon Brando\u003c\/em\u003e. Scolded by \u003cem\u003eJoanna Lumley\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese are the ‘pictures that made the stories’.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David Koppel","offers":[{"title":"First Edition","offer_id":55302103007561,"sku":"1101047010401","price":75.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Bowie 'you'","offer_id":55302103040329,"sku":"1101047010406","price":400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Bowie 'guitar'","offer_id":55302103073097,"sku":"1101047010407","price":400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Hutchence 'finger;","offer_id":55302103105865,"sku":"1101047010408","price":400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Lumley 'NYC'","offer_id":55302103138633,"sku":"1101047010409","price":400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Prince 'polka dot suit'","offer_id":55302103171401,"sku":"1101047010424","price":400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Special Edition - Diana 'stare'","offer_id":55302103204169,"sku":"1101047010425","price":400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0894\/1951\/4185\/files\/Spotlight3drender.jpg?v=1789051517"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.davidkoppel.co.uk\/collections\/books.oembed","provider":"David Koppel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}