Despite his impressive collection of thousands of photos, Elton told the BBC: 'I would never hang a photo of myself on the wall at home, no thanks.'
But what's notably absent is any images of Sir Elton himself while performing.
"It's extraordinary that I collect photographs because I don't like being photographed," the 77-year-old singer said. "I find it really painful."
"The paradox of someone who appreciates and has a sophisticated eye for photographs yet cannot stand to be photographed is not lost on me," Furnish said with a laugh.
"I think what keeps Elton sane is the fact he's able to compartmentalise what he does on stage as a performer versus who he is in his everyday life."
Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection
Sir Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, have loaned three images of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe to the Victoria and Albert musum (V&A), for its exhibition Fragile Beauty. (Independent)
The photographs include one by American photographer Bert Stern from his shoots for Vogue, titled “The Last Sitting”, which showed Monroe lost in thought just two months before she died aged 36, in 1962.
John, who wrote one of his most famous songs, “Candle in the Wind”, as a tribute to Monroe, also contributed two other images to Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection.
One of them is one of late photographer Richard Avedon’s most memorable shots, showing Monroe looking distant with her eyes lowered, shoulders slumped and one eyebrow gently arched. She appears lost in thought, perhaps tired, and far from the beaming blonde bombshell she was frequently depicted as.
The picture was one of several taken on 6 May 1957, when a then-30-year-old Monroe was promoting her new romantic comedy, The Prince and the Showgirl, in which she starred opposite Laurence Olivier.
