Photo Feature: Anton Corbijn
Photo Feature: Anton Corbijn
Photo Feature: Anton Corbijn
Our Photo Feature for this week is on celebrated photographer and music video maker Anton Corbijn, best known for his work with U2.
Anton Corbijn, a Dutch photographer, is best known for his work as a photographer, music video director and film director. In Corbijn’s career there has been one constant: the band U2, and their collaboration of more than 40 years. “It was Anton Corbijn who “invented” U2’s public image and he is still shaping it.”
Corbijn began his career as a music photographer when he saw the Dutch musician Herman Brood playing in a café in Groningen around 1975. He took a lot of photographs of the band Herman Brood & His Wild Romance and these led to a rise in fame for Brood and in exposure for Corbijn.
“Anton Corbijn is very interested in pushing the boundaries in respect to the media he works in. He has been working in film and video with some of the musicians he photographed and was in 1983 one of the first photographers to direct music videos. He has since made approximately 80 music videos; for among others U2, Johnny Cash, Arcade Fire, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, Metallica, Nick Cave, Coldplay and The Killers.”
Legendary Dutch photographer and film director Anton Corbijn is currently showcasing a major 50-year career retrospective, titled “Corbijn, Anton”, Fotografiska Berlin, which runs through September 20, 2026. The extensive exhibition features roughly 150 iconic, grainy black-and-white portraits spanning his legendary career with artists like U2 and Depeche Mode.
Current Exhibition & Career Highlights
- Retrospective: The large-scale showcase at Fotografiska Berlin highlights five decades of his defining visual language in music and portrait photography.
Exhibition | Anton Corbijn Reflects on 50 Years Behind the Lens
References:
https://www.worldpressphoto.org/people/anton-corbijn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Corbijn
I would like to share about watching Anton Corbijn shape the image of U2 and many other artists over many decades. Having looked at his work specifically his time spent with U2, I am inspired. I’ve also attached a picture of The Rolling Stones.
” In Corbijn’s career there has been one constant: the band U2, and their collaboration of 40+ years. This publication is dedicated to Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam, to their longstanding friendship, mutual inspiration, and shared experience of rock history that is part of the history of photography. It was Anton Corbijn who “invented” U2’s public image and he is still shaping it. ” The quote describes the book U2 & I (2005) by Dutch photographer and director Anton Corbijn
Some of the bands Anton has worked with: Major Bands Photographed
- U2
- Nirvana
- Joy Division
- The Rolling Stones
- R.E.M.
- The Smiths
- Metallica
- Coldplay
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
