Skip to main content

Creativity Quote by Elton John

"I've got a great collection of photography"

About this Quote

Elton John’s “I’ve got a great collection of photography” lands like a casual flex, but it’s also a neat self-portrait: the pop star as curator, not just performer. The line is disarmingly plain, almost domestic, which is exactly why it carries weight. Superstardom usually speaks in spectacle; this speaks in taste. He’s not claiming genius, he’s claiming an eye.

The intent reads as partly conversational (a celebrity talking about a hobby) and partly reputational. Elton John has long been associated with serious collecting, especially photography, and the phrase “great collection” is doing double duty: it signals cultural literacy and access, while staying breezy enough to avoid sounding like a museum trustee. It’s wealth translated into discernment.

Subtext: control. Photography freezes time, frames a narrative, turns chaos into composition. For an artist whose life has been publicly mythologized - flamboyance, addiction, reinvention - collecting images is a quieter kind of authorship. It suggests he doesn’t just live in the spotlight; he owns the archive. There’s also a subtle kinship between pop performance and photography: both are about staging, persona, and the split-second that becomes iconic.

Context matters because celebrity collections aren’t neutral. When a musician collects photography, it’s a way of moving from being consumed as entertainment to participating in “serious” culture, a soft bid for legacy. Said without embellishment, the line performs modesty while still drawing a boundary: you may know the hits, but you don’t fully know the world he’s built around them.

Quote Details

TopicArt
SourceHelp us find the source
CiteCite this Quote

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
John, Elton. (n.d.). I've got a great collection of photography. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-got-a-great-collection-of-photography-28534/

Chicago Style
John, Elton. "I've got a great collection of photography." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-got-a-great-collection-of-photography-28534/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've got a great collection of photography." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-got-a-great-collection-of-photography-28534/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Elton Add to List
Elton John on His Photography Collection
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

England Flag

Elton John (born March 25, 1947) is a Musician from England.

32 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes