David Corio's best shot

'I was chest-deep in water and down to my last frame. I clicked the shutter - and got it'

Interview by Leo Benedictus
Thursday May 17, 2007
The Guardian

In 1980, the last full year of Bob Marley's life, the NME asked me to shoot his gig at Crystal Palace Bowl. He only performed about eight more before he died. There was a big lake right in front of the stage, so photographers had to stand 50 yards away. I remember Joe Jackson performing there once. Someone found a dead duck and threw it at him. It hit him in the chest and he just walked off, understandably.

after a few shots, I hadn't got anything, so I put a camera and film in a carrier bag, and just waded in. It was chest-deep. A bunch of fans had jumped in, so there was lots of splashing. It was difficult holding a carrier bag up in the air with one hand and the camera with the other.

Bob was also really difficult to shoot. He was almost in a trance, dancing like a shaman. His locks were thrashing around and it was hard to capture a good expression when they weren't totally covering his face. I wouldn't have known at the time that he was ill.

I got down to my last shot, the 37th frame on my last roll of film, and waited - and just managed to capture it all at the right moment. There have been a few times over the years when, just as you click the shutter, you feel that you've got it. This was one of them.

But the NME didn't print it. They chose a singing-into-the-microphone shot. I was 20, just starting, and I'd only done a dozen jobs, so I was glad to get the gig. But I was a bit peeved.

The picture has been used over the years because of its graphic quality as much as anything. I tried getting rid of the little bit of the microphone stand in the corner, but the result just looks too clean to me. The image sums up that day. I went home on the tube covered in green slime and stinking of old pondlife.

· Memoirs from the Mosh Pit, an exhibition of photographs by David Corio, is at the Rockarchive Gallery, London, until June 1. Details: 020-7376 7129

David Corio's photographs of Bob Marley and other subjects can be seen on his website