In 1985, budding photographer Nalinee Darmrong experienced several rites of passage. Upon graduating high school at 17, she traveled the across the U.S. and abroad for the first time without her parents, picking up a camera and documenting The Smiths on tour during their prime (the band had formed in Manchester, U.K. in 1982).

“I was at the right place at the right time. I was 17, graduating high school. My friend Tony, who introduced me to the music, got me my first ticket to the show as a graduation present. The night of the D.C. show, a bunch of us hung out inside the hotel and in the morning we all went into the hotel café and talked to the band. Johnny Marr put ten of us on the guest list for New York,” Darmrong remembers. “So three or four shows in succession, they kind of got to know us, be familiar with us, and feel comfortable with us. I had my camera the whole time, I was definitely a novice. I didn’t show them the photos until a couple weeks later.”

Darmrong was given unprecedented access to the band during both the Meat is Murder and The Queen is Dead tours in 1985 and 1986, documenting the short lifespan of the unforgettable, now-legendary outfit.

“I was there for the last U.S. tour. I could tell that they were getting a little tired. Subtle things, like prolonged lulls between songs. They had this non-stop career of albums, singles and tours, during their brief lifetime,” says Darmrong. “I wasn’t surprised, but I guess I was surprised that it happened so soon after I left the last tour. They did one U.K. tour and then they broke up after that. I was devastated, just as many of the other fans were.”

As Morrissey pursued a successful solo career and the other members went off to work on other projects, Darmrong received blessings from the band to release a new photo book immortalizing her time on the road.

“I still haven’t talked to Morrissey, but the last time he was in D.C. I got to take some pictures of his show and they used them on the website. Johnny I’m in touch with the most. Andy I just heard from, hopefully because of the buzz about the book going around the U.K. right now,” says Darmrong.

“At one of Johnny’s shows, I told him that I was thinking about putting something together with images, ticket stubs, whatever. He was like ‘Nalinee, I don’t really think you need my permission.’ and I was like ‘But I want it!’” she says laughingly. “It was the 80s, everything was on the fly, there were no contracts or anything. But I got his blessing for the book and that felt nice.”

The Smiths, by Nalinee Damarong is available June 14th from Rizzoli. Nalinee spoke with Cuepoint about select images from the new volume.