Glastonbury 2011: when Bono put me in the frame

What happened when the U2 singer borrowed the Guardian photographer's camera?

At the end of U2's third song, Bono knelt down in front of me and stretched his hand towards the camera. At first, I thought he was just doing a rocker pose. But then he got closer and closer, and I thought: He wants my camera. So I just gave it to him.

Bono with David Levene's camera
I didn’t think he’d actually taken any photos. This was taken by a friend who was in the pit at the same time. Photograph: Pete Mariner Photograph: Pete Mariner

I was initially worried he wasn't going to be able to use it. You can't generally take a photo with the camera unless the auto-focus is engaged – and that's quite a faff to figure out. So it was only when I had a look later that I saw he'd fired off four or five frames.

Bono's picture of Guardian photographer David Levene
I was taking pictures of him with another camera as he was taking pictures of me. One of them might have to go up on my wall at home. Photograph: Bono/U2 Photograph: Bono/U2

They were a bit underexposed, but I was just very impressed he'd managed to take any photos at all.

Contributor

David Levene

The GuardianTramp

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