Lennon's ex releases hidden snapshots

John Lennon's former girlfriend May Pang has spoken of her relationship with the "real Lennon" as she releases a collection of intimate snaps of the former Beatle.

Pang began an 18-month fling with Lennon in 1973, while he was separated from wife Yoko Ono.

After keeping them under wraps for 35 years, Pang is sharing her personal snaps of life with Lennon and a collection of his private sketches, in new book Instamatic Karma, which hits bookstores on Tuesday.

Pang says: "They were literally in a shoebox under my bed. A friend of mine said, 'You've got to get this out. People have got to see the John that you saw.'

"So this is an intimate portrait of our lives together. You're seeing him through my eyes."