During his 21 years with Queen, Freddie Mercury was photographed by Brian May in previously unseen pictures that the guitarist has now released in his book Queen in 3-D. Express.co.uk have been sent a selection of the hundreds of stereoscopic photos that feature, which fans can check out below. The special snaps start with touring in 1975 and go all the way up Freddie’s final set of concerts in 1986.
The first one sees Freddie and Queen drummer Roger Taylor at Charles de Gaulle airport.
While another, which looks like it was taken around the same time, shows the late singer with his girlfriend of the time Mary Austin.
A year later, Freddie came out to her which saw the end of their romantic relationship, but they remained very close for the rest of his life.
After his death in 1991, Austin – who turned 70 this month – inherited Freddie’s home, 50 per cent of his recording royalties and most of his wealth. While it’s believed her share of his estate increased to 75 per cent after the singer’s parents Bomi and Jer died.
READ MORE: Brian May EXCLUSIVE: Queen in 3-D – UNSEEN Freddie Mercury pictures
Brian first published Queen in 3-D, which has since been updated, a couple of years.
The guitarist has had a fascination with photography, especially stereoscopes from an early age.
The 73-year-old told Express.co.uk in 2017: “My dad taught me how to develop my own films. He was one of these people who could turn his hand to anything really. The 3-D part came because I used to get 3-D pictures in cereal packets, we all did in those days.
“In this case, it was a piece of cardboard with two pictures side by side. They looked identical, but they weren’t. They were the stereo pair.”
After sending off for a viewer, Brian soon found that 3-D would become a life-long passion, something he shared with the rest of Queen.
He said: “They kind of got used to my eccentricities. I didn’t actually buy a stereo camera until we went to the States…in about 1974. Prior to that, I had been taking stereo pictures in other ways, which I still do. In fact anyone can do it with an iPhone.
“You just take a picture with your weight on your left foot and then another picture with your weight on your right foot. And you put your pictures together and you have your stereo picture. The magic of 3-D is created because you’re using two different views of the universe, one through from each eye, and that of course is what our brain is doing every second of our waking lives.”
For the full story and many more of Brian’s stereoscopic photos capturing the 50 year legacy of the band, Queen in 3-D is available for £30 here.