Famed Elvis Presley photographer Alfred Wertheimer has died at the age of 84.

The snapper passed away from natural causes at his New York apartment on Sunday (19Oct14).

Wertheimer was just 26 when he was assigned to photograph the then-unknown 21-year-old singer in 1956, just before the release of his hit song Heartbreak Hotel turned him into a rock 'n' roll superstar.

Wertheimer amassed 3,800 candid photographs of the man who would become The King, including shots of Presley shaving, answering the telephone in his underwear and the famous The Kiss snap, in which he nuzzles a female fan backstage.

The series of black and white images has since become a key piece of music history, with special exhibitions held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

Wertheimer went on to work as a cinematographer for Britain's Granada Television and served as a cameraman for filmmaker Michael Wadleigh's 1969 music documentary Woodstock.