More than 2,000 rare photographic negatives of 1960s icons have been discovered during a clearout of the home of Barry Summers, who lived in Fleetwood Gardens, Market Harborough, and are now available to the public for the first time.
Mr Summers, who died in July 2000 aged 61, was a Liberal Democrat councillor and head of history at Welland Park College but began his working life as a paparazzi photographer in London.
And it is hoped a collection of Mr Summers' work will be exhibited in Market Harborough if funding is generated to restore and print the original negatives, some of which are 40 years old.
Cllr Simon Galton, the executor and a beneficiary of Mr Summers' will, said: "He used to listen to Radio Luxembourg when it was a pirate station and predict which new talents were going to make it.
"He would then chase them for a photo- shoot and obtained many scoops this way.
"If they became big, he was then in a position to sell his photos to the press."
Mr Summers took photos of politicians, sports stars, films stars and pop stars, among them The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and his favourite, Lulu.
Many of the photographs captured the moment before the celebrities transformed themselves into international superstars.
But snapping the shots was not an easy task.
Manfred Mann threw Mr Summers down the stairs and he was chased off the Ready, Steady, Go set by Dusty Springfield, who was renowned for not allowing photographers to capture her singing.
District councillor Pete Callis, a beneficiary in his will, said that after Mr Summers' death he had started to put piles of negatives on to a bonfire not realising what they were.
He said: "We sorted out a pile which was going to charity, stuff to hang on to and other stuff to dump.
"I burnt stuff in a wheelbarrow in the back of Barry's garden and we didn't know the negatives were in there until the neighbours complained about black smoke billowing out of the fire.
"I put the bonfire out immediately and thankfully managed to save the negatives."
To gain recognition for Mr Summers' work, the rights to his pictures have been sold to Southampton-based publishers Hollywood Icons, which holds worldwide exclusive copyright for this collection.
You can buy a copy of the photographs for as little as £2.49 and limited edition photographic prints for £49.95 including postage and packaging.
To order online, log on to www.hollywoodicons.co.uk or by phoning 02380 710944 for more details.