I've been punched by Bowie, Dylan and Jagger, and kicked in the shin by Schwarzenegger... but it was James Bond who finally convinced me to quit the wild world of celebrity photography

For more than a decade, David Koppel stalked the back doors of the world's most exclusive hotels and nightclubs, sneaking through windows, brazenly smuggling his camera through kitchens and getting involved in more than one car chase to capture the biggest celebrities in their most unguarded moments.Brando. Jagger. Sinatra. Bowie. Dylan. He's photographed them all. Not all of them were particularly happy about it. Jagger, Bowie and Dylan all took a swipe at him in fury. He was also kicked in the shin by Schwarzenegger and got into a tussle with Prince's bodyguard.But the hardened paparazzo harbors no hard feelings. In fact, if anything, they just made for an even more compelling photograph.Ask him which of his vast body of work he's most proud of, however, and his choice isn't the one that is arguably his most famous: an image of Joanna Lumley, in her role as Absolutely Fabulous's Patsy Stone, on the rooftop of New York's Carnegie Hall Tower simultaneously swigging on a bottle of Stoli and smoking a cigarette. Central Park is glimmering in the background below. Iconic.Getting the money shot was certainly audacious – he pretended to be part of the film crew and hid behind an air conditioner unit waiting for everyone else to arrive. When he eventually persuaded security to let him stay, he had all of 30 seconds to shoot: 'Take a swig, take a puff, thank you.' Job done.Though shot in 1994, it continues to sell worldwide today – a print even hangs in the lobby of New York's swanky Athenaeum Hotel. The famous image of Joanna Lumley, in her role as Absolutely Fabulous's Patsy Stone, on the rooftop of New York's Carnegie Hall is Koppel's most successful – yet he shot it in just seconds Koppel also shot runway shows – capturing Kate Moss in one of her early appearances in 1993 for designer Bella Freud Supermodels Elle Macpherson and Linda Evangelista leave London restaurant The Ivy hand in hand in 1994But his favorite images – the ones that, when he talks about them, you can hear the adrenaline in his voice – are those that happened almost by accident, combining a lot of luck and even more chutzpah.DAVID BOWIE, LONDON, 1987The series of photographs of David Bowie pointing at him through a car window, then leaning back and laughing are among the images Koppel considers his best work.'Bowie had happily posed for me, even giving instruction from the car, pointing at me through the open window before falling back grinning his head off,' he said.The photographer didn't hear a word of whatever was said, but the star obviously found it extremely funny and the moment was captured for posterity.His next encounter with the Thin White Duke was less friendly, however.Having followed the singer's limo to a club in London – no photographers allowed inside – he snuck down a fire escape leading to the kitchen.'I walked down the stairs, wearing a long trench coat, and walked through the kitchen at speed, watching the chef watching me and turning his head at the speed of my walk, not breaking rhythm as he calmly continued chopping up the veg.'A spiral staircase took me up into the party which was small and intimate. I picked up a drink from a waiter standing at the top of the stairs and pretended I was a guest.'As Bowie's minder moved away briefly, Koppel moved in for the shot, undoing his trench coat and pulling out his camera in one deft move. Koppel photographed Tina Turner at the Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo, in 1993 'Bowie had happily posed for me, even giving instruction from the car, pointing at me through the open window before falling back grinning his head off,' said Koppel His next encounter with the singer was less friendly – and the photographs didn't survive Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant at Le Palais de Festivals, Cannes, in 1994 Koppel's favorite images are those that happened almost by accident, combining a lot of luck and even more chutzpah'As I did, Bowie looked up and pointed at me and screamed "NO!"'I froze on the spot but instinctively started taking photos on a motor drive... click, click, click, click, trrrr-rrrrrrrrrr.'The next thing I knew, Bowie is on the table hovering over me and screaming, "You are SO rude," and with that walloped me round the head with a right fist.'Koppel's film was promptly removed and he was ejected from the party.MARLON BRANDO, LONDON, 1992After hanging around for hours at Heathrow's Concorde arrivals waiting for Daryl Hannah – the Splash actress was a no-show – Koppel and a fellow photographer ended up having dinner in a Chinese restaurant instead.'Having a sixth sense for celebrities,' said Koppel, 'when a small party of three walked in, my antenna seemed to quiver.'I said, "Don't look behind, but Marlon Brando has just walked in."'Brando had not been seen in public for years. Yet, I just knew. As if in a dream, the waitress brought Brando, his wife and child to the table next to us.'The pair of snappers, accompanied by a couple of girlfriends, swiftly paid, ran back to their car to get their cameras, then hid outside, waiting for Brando to finish his meal.'Anxiously we watched cars pull up outside to see which was Marlon's. The silver Mercedes... The gold Rolls-Royce.'And then an innocuous, white, four-door Ford hatchback minicab pulled up, and a driver got out and waited. That can't be it, surely! Yes it can, and it was.' Brando sat back in the car with his eyes closed, echoing a scene from the film On the Waterfront Kate Moss walks Stella McCartney's graduation show in 1995 Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell attend the British Fashion Awards in 1993Brando, spotting the photographers, bizarrely grabbed his hat with both hands and pulled it over his head then walked, eyes completely shut, towards his waiting car.'It was a scene right out of the film The Godfather, where Brando's character gets shot,' said Koppel. 'He looked at us with an expression as if to say, "F**k!"'He was led by the driver and his wife to the white Ford minicab... They squeezed the giant torso with some effort into the back seat of the car and Brando dwarfed his tiny son next to him, almost crushing him as he was squeezed and pushed in.'As soon as they had him in, I opened the passenger door, got in, said, "Hi Marlon, welcome to London" and fired off six frames in two seconds and got out.'No response from Brando. He just sat still, no reaction, no emotion, eyes wide shut, hands clasped. Unbeknown, in the camera, filling the frame, a perfect shot of Brando in the back of the car, echoing the famous scene with Rod Steiger from the film On the Waterfront.'Koppel especially enjoyed the headlines that accompanied the shots when they were published: 'Pile on Brando,' 'The Godfatter,' and The Daily Mail's 'The Wide One.'MICHAEL HUTCHENCE, MONACO, 1994Koppel's image of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence is, he believes, the quintessential rock 'n' roll photo. All the ingredients are there.We have the rock star at the height of his power, holding not just a drink but also a lit cigarette, flipping the bird at the photographer.Additional rock star points for the gorgeous model girlfriend, Helena Christensen.If he'd tried to pose that image in a studio, he reasons, he could never have achieved such a perfect moment. Its beauty is in its spontaneity.PRINCE, LONDON, 1992Waiting outside Tower Records to get his shot of the diminutive star, surrounded by fans, minders, fellow photographers and police, there was already a high sense of anxiety. Koppel knew he'd have to work fast.He said: 'As I put the camera to my eye to take the photo, one of his hired hands, for no reason other than he's decided to do it, reaches a hand out onto my chest and pushes as hard as he can and, keeping his hand on my chest, pins me to the boot of the Daimler and keeps me there.'Disentangling my hand with the camera in it, stretching it out as far as I can, I fire off a few frames, with no idea what happened in those few seconds. Uma Thurman, photographed by Koppel in Cannes, 1994 While waiting for Prince, Koppel was manhandled by the singer's bodyguard and pinned to the hood of a car Is this the most quintessential rock 'n' roll photo of all time? Koppel thinks so When Koppel asked if he could photograph Jagger with his brother, the Rolling Stone replied: 'Nah, f**k off''The car speeds off and I'm thrown to the floor by the thuggish minder, not realizing yet that I have captured a perfectly composed shot of Prince in polka-dot suit, shaking hands and smiling just before he gets into his car.'MICK JAGGER, LONDON, 1992While shooting at a Keith Richards solo gig, Koppel asked Jagger if he could take a picture of him with his brother Chris.'Nah, f**k off,' replied the Rolling Stone frontman.Later, however, he couldn't resist taking a sneaky shot.'In defiance, he stuck his tongue out and as I continued to snap, he lifted his right hand over his left shoulder and took a swipe at me.'I fell backwards but continued taking photos, capturing the moment he hit out at me.'The headline the next day: 'Thumping Jack Flash.'PIERCE BROSNAN, MONTE CARLO, 1995After a week of shooting the star on location for the Bond film Goldeneye (having received an unlikely tip from none other than Ringo Starr), Koppel and Brosnan were on friendly, first-name terms.'Pierce was very... relaxed about everything, posing for pics and being patient with me following him around,' said Koppel.On one occasion, Brosnan even playfully grabbed Koppel and put him in a headlock, running down the street screaming: 'I've got him, I've got him.'Three years later, however, the pair had an encounter that was to prove the end of Koppel's paparazzi career.Having heard that the Bond team were now filming in Phuket, he caught a flight and, after a series of dead ends, stumbled across the discreet entrance to the celebrity favorite Amanpuri Hotel.'On our last day before going home, I left the cameras at the hotel and went for a walk along the beach,' he said.'Over a cluster of rocks and in the distance away from the beach what looked like a small shack bar made of wicker and bamboo. In we wandered, the only ones there, save the barman.'Then something extraordinary happened. Pierce Brosnan wandered past the pool, right down to the bar where Koppel was sitting with his girlfriend. After a week of shooting the star on location for the Bond film Goldeneye, Koppel and Brosnan were on friendly, first-name terms George Michael and Boy George at London's Limelight Club, 1986 Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman at the Palm Beach Casino, Cannes, in 1992They had an amiable chat, Koppel bought Brosnan a whisky, then the conversation went rapidly south. 'I introduced my girlfriend and the three of us were chatting happily when I then, foolishly, said, "We have actually met before you know. In Monte Carlo, during the filming of Goldeneye. You may recall, you had me in a headlock and ran down the street with me."'As I said this... Brosnan exploded.'"What the f**k are you doing here? You're just a f**king paparazzi scum."'And off he went to join his girlfriend by the pool, who had arrived with his baby son.''Though Brosnan erupted,' added Koppel, 'I noticed he held on to the drink I'd bought him.'The encounter was enough to persuade him to hang up his paparazzi credentials for good. Though he has no regrets about those days, there are only so many punches a man can take, and so many fire escapes he can clamber up before he realizes he's not as young as he used to be. But those legendary tales will never get old.Spotlight: The Pictures That Made The Stories by David Koppel is published this month.