EXCLUSIVE: Freddie Mercury drinking wine in a New York limo, Brian May mastering the guitar and Roger Taylor wearing fur at the races: Queen guitarist releases incredible unseen 3-D photographs of the band in a new book

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Queen guitarist Brian May has released a 300-strong collection of intimate photographs documenting life in one of the world's biggest rock bands - after spending three years trawling through his personal archive.

Collated in a new book, Queen in 3-D, the vast majority of the photographs were shot over 46 years by May himself on a 3-D stereoscopic camera, which he believes lets fans 'immerse themselves in the scene'.

Highlights include a young May strumming on one of his first guitars, as well as never-seen-before photos of his bandmates - including Freddie Mercury getting his raven hair blow-dried in a Paris salon and enjoying a glass of red in the back of a New York Cadillac limo.

Queen guitarist Brian May is set to delight fans with the release of a new book, which includes never-seen-before images of the group from his personal photo archive. Pictured: May in a hotel room in 1978 with one of the stereoscopic cameras that the musician carried during the height's of the band's fame

Many of the book's 300 images were captured on various stereoscopic cameras that were carried by the rock legend during the height of the band's fame. 

Viewed through a OWL VR Smartphone Kit, a virtual reality viewer designed by May, the book's images promise 'three-dimensional realism'.

May said of the collection, which he describes as a 'labour of love': 'As I looked at the 3-D photos, memories were triggered and the stories poured out. 

'It's the 3-D element that makes it so evocative. I believe each image will draw readers in deeper, like me, inviting them to immerse themselves in a scene, to share a previously unseen Queen moment.' 

The book is the first of its kind to be published by a member of the band on the band and was put together with the help of Denis Pellerin, stereoscopic historian, and official Queen archivist, Greg Brooks.

The band's hedonistic lifestyle is revealed in the 'evocative' shots including this photograph of Freddie Mercury (centre) drinking a glass of red wine in the back of a white New York limo in 1975. The band's frontman is flanked by Roger Taylor (left) and John Deacon (right)

Glass in hand, Freddie, who fronted the band until his death in November 1991, is photographed from the front seat of the Cadillac limousine

May's visual biography of the band is released on May 25th, priced at £50

May explains the trickiest part was knowing what to omit: 'In the end, the biggest problem has been what to leave out.

'Of course, what it's reminded me of is the incredible depth and breadth of experience we, Roger, John, Freddie and myself, have been privileged to share over the last 50 years.' 

He continues: 'Some people will tell you that 'the touring life' gives you hotels and gigs, and little else. And we sure have seen a lot of those! 

'But for us interested and fairly well-educated human beings, touring was always an opportunity to see how the rest of the world lives, up close; and there have been other unique bonuses along the way. 

'If we had simply travelled as tourists, we might have seen plenty of art galleries and cathedrals, and beaches too, if we fancied it. 

'But as working, touring beings, we have had the fantastic luck to interact closely with thousands of people in many foreign countries, some of which we'd never heard of when we started.' 

Queen will tour later this year featuring US singer Adam Lambert on vocals. 

Queen in 3-D is published on May 25th by the London Stereoscopic Company, priced £50

Pictured in January 1975, Freddie Mercury is seen getting his tresses attended to in a Parisian hair salon

A little rouge on the cheek and a lick of eyeliner: Freddie gets his stage make-up applied before a set in 1976

Mercury and Roger Taylor, clad in dressing gowns, captured moments after coming off stage in Japan in 1975

Suitcase in hand and the keys to a brand new Jaguar, May returns to the family home in 1976 in a photo captured by his father Harold

A day at the races: The band (clockwise from bottom left: Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, John Deacon) enjoy a day at Kempton Park with manager John Reid (bottom right), who was with the band from 1975 to 1978

New decade: A rare image from a photoshoot in 1981 sees the band in upbeat mood. Pictured from left: May, Mercury, Taylor, Deacon

Making music: A contemplative-looking Freddie holds a cup of tea while relaxing on the terrace of Ridge Farm studios, in Surrey, where the band rehearsed in 1975

A young Brian May, with his trademark curls shorn, smiles for the camera on a family holiday in Lulworth Cove in Dorset in 1958. Right: That same summer, May, strums on a guitar in the garden of his family home

Different strings: The 3-D book features a photo of the band's guitarist strumming a harp. Right: May's father, Harold, is suited and booted before the Flash Gordon premiere in December 1980