Anton Corbijn | |
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.jpg) Corbijn in 2012 | |
| Born | Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (1955-05-20)20 May 1955 (age 70) Strijen, Netherlands |
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| Years active | 1975–present |
| Website | antoncorbijn.com |
Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈɑntɔɲoːˈɦɑnəsˈxɛrɪtkɔrˈbɛiɱvɑɱˌʋɪlənsˈʋaːrt]; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output ofDepeche Mode andU2,[1][2] having handled the principal promotion and sleeve photography for both bands over three decades. His music videos include Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" (1990), U2's "One" (version 1) (1991),Bryan Adams' "Do I Have to Say the Words?",Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" (1993),Travis's "Re-Offender" (2003) andColdplay's "Talk" (2005).
He directed the films "Viva la Vida" (2008); theIan Curtis biographical filmControl (2007),[3]The American (2010);A Most Wanted Man (2014), based onJohn le Carré's 2008novel of the same name; andLife (2015), after the friendship betweenLife magazine photographer Dennis Stock and James Dean.
Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard was born on 20 May 1955 inStrijen in the Netherlands, where his father had been appointed asparson to theDutch Reformed Church the previous year.[4] His father, Anton Corbijn van Willenswaard (1917–2007),[5] took up the same position inHoogland (1966) andGroningen (1972),[6] moving his wife and four children with him.[7] His mother, Marietje Groeneboer (1925–2011), was a nurse and was raised in a parson's family. Photographer and director Maarten Corbijn (born 1960)[8] is a younger brother.[9] Grandfather Anton Johannes (Corbijn) van Willenswaard (1886–1959)[10][11] was anart teacher at Christian schools inHilversum[12] and an active member in the local Dutch Reformed Church in Hilversum.[13][14]
Corbijn began his career as a music photographer when he saw the Dutch musicianHerman Brood playing in a café inGroningen 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.[15]
From the late 1970s the London-basedNew Musical Express (NME), a weekly music paper, featured his work on a regular basis and would often have a photograph by him on the front page. One such occasion was a portrait ofDavid Bowie wearing a loincloth backstage in New York when starring inThe Elephant Man. In the early years of London-basedThe Face, a glossy monthly post-punk life style / music magazine, Corbijn was a regular contributor. He made his name photographing in black-and-white but in May 1989 he began taking pictures in colour using filters. His first venture in this medium was forSiouxsie Sioux.[16] Between 1998 and 2000, in collaboration with the painterMarlene Dumas, he worked on a project called "Stripping Girls", which took the strip clubs and peep shows of Amsterdam as their subject;[17] while Corbijn later exhibited photographs, Dumas took Polaroids which she then used as sources for her paintings.
Corbijn has photographedJimmy Page and Robert Plant (formerly ofLed Zeppelin),Ai Weiwei,Bob Dylan,Joy Division,Tom Waits,Bruce Springsteen,Prāta Vētra,Peter Hammill,Miles Davis,Kate Bush,Björk,Captain Beefheart,Kim Wilde,Marc Almond,Robert De Niro,Stephen Hawking,Elvis Costello,Siouxsie and the Banshees,Morrissey,Peter Murphy,Simple Minds,Clint Eastwood,The Cramps,Roxette,Herbert Grönemeyer,Annie Lennox, andEurythmics, amongst others. Perhaps his most famous and longest standing associations are withDepeche Mode andU2. Corbijn's work relationship with Depeche Mode began with the filming of a music video for their 1986 single "A Question of Time". Corbijn says that he soon "started to realise that [his] visuals and their music went really well together. Then [he] did some live photos, and it eventually turned into designing the whole live set. That's what [he's] been doing for them since 1993." Corbijn has directed over 20 of the band's music videos, the most recent of his works being 2024's "Before We Drown". He has also designed most of the covers for Depeche Mode's albums and singles from 1990'sViolator album and onwards. Corbijn's work with U2 includes taking pictures of the band on their first US tour, taking pictures for their albumsThe Joshua Tree andAchtung Baby,[18] and directing a number of accompanying videos.
Other album covers featuring work by Corbijn include those for Springsteen,Nick Cave,Siouxsie Sioux with her second bandthe Creatures,Bryan Adams,Metallica,Therapy?,The Rolling Stones,Bon Jovi,The Killers,Simple Minds,R.E.M.,The Bee Gees,Saybia,Clannad andMoke.
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Corbijn began his music video directing career whenPalais Schaumburg asked him to direct a video. After seeing the resulting video for "Hockey", the bandPropaganda had Corbijn direct "Dr. Mabuse". After that he directed videos forDavid Sylvian,Echo & the Bunnymen,Golden Earring,Front 242,Depeche Mode,Roxette andU2. His first video in colour was made for U2 in 1984 for their single "Pride (In the Name of Love)". In 2005Palm Pictures released a DVD collection of Corbijn's music video output as part of theDirector's Label series.
In 1994 Corbijn directed a short film aboutCaptain Beefheart/Don Van Vliet for theBBC calledSome Yoyo Stuff. He made his feature film debut withControl, a film about the life of Joy Division frontmanIan Curtis. It premiered to rave reviews at theCannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007.[19][20] The film is based onDeborah Curtis' bookTouching from a Distance about her husband and the biographyTorn Apart by Lindsay Reade (Tony Wilson's ex-wife) and Mick Middles. Although shown outside thePalme d'Or competition,Control was the big winner of theDirector's Fortnight winning the CICAE Art & Essai prize for best film, the "Regards Jeunes" Prize award for best first or second directed feature film and the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the sidebar. It also received a special mention for theCaméra d'Or prize for best debut feature film.[21] In addition, the film also won the Michael Powell award for best new British feature at theEdinburgh International Film Festival.[22]
In 2010, Corbijn returned as a director with the character-based thrillerThe American, starring George Clooney.
On 26 October 2011, Corbijn directed awebcast byColdplay from thePlaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid, Spain.[23]
His filmA Most Wanted Man was released in 2014. TheJohn le Carré novel of the same name, which is loosely based on the truewar on terror story ofMurat Kurnaz, was set in part inHamburg, as parts of the film were.[24]
In February 2014, he started filming his next projectLife aboutJames Dean and photographerDennis Stock.[25]
On 23 and 25 July 2018, Corbijn filmed the last two concerts ofDepeche Mode'sGlobal Spirit Tour at theWaldbühne inBerlin. Some of this footage, intertwined with the stories of six life-long fans in the audience, became the filmSpirits in the Forest, which was released in theaters worldwide on 21 November 2019. In Corbijn's interview withNME he spoke about the origins behind the idea of this film and said that they (him and Depeche Mode) "decided to look at the reason for why Depeche Mode was still growing... they're the biggest cult band in the world. It's unbelievable." He further adds that "it's in the DNA of [Depeche Mode] to have these connection to their fans... there's something unusual about it and the fans go to great lengths", which inspired him to make the film in the style that he did.[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]
AuthorWilliam Gibson refers to a fictitious portrait by Corbijn of the character Hollis Henry in his 2007 novelSpook Country.[35] A Corbijn photograph has served as the author's portrait on many of Gibson's books, includingNeuromancer.[36]
Corbijn is the subject of Josh Whiteman's 2009 documentary filmShadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbijn.[37]
In May 2011, Corbijn presentedMandela Landscape, an artwork consisting of Corbijn's portrait ofNelson Mandela stitched by Dutch textile artistBerend Strik. Both the original work and 80 signed art prints were sold to fund the international edition ofZAM Magazine, an independent platform of African talent.[clarification needed][38]
On 19 December 2011, Corbijn was announced as being on the jury for the62nd Berlin International Film Festival, held in February 2012.[39] At this occasion, the Berlinale Special screened the documentaryAnton Corbijn Inside Out (directed byKlaartje Quirijns) at theHaus der Berliner Festspiele.[40]
| Year | Title | Distributor |
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| 1993 | Devotional | Mute Records (UK),Sire Records (US) |
| 1994 | Some Yoyo Stuff | BBC |
| 2007 | Control | Momentum Pictures (UK),The Weinstein Company (US) |
| 2009 | Linear | Universal Music Group,U2 |
| 2010 | The American | Focus Features |
| 2014 | A Most Wanted Man | Roadside Attractions[42] |
| 2014 | Live in Berlin | Columbia Records |
| 2015 | Life | Cinedigm |
| 2018 | Hotel Au Provocateur (Short film) | Black Label Productions (GB) |
| 2019 | Spirits in the Forest | Trafalgar Releasing |
| 2023 | Squaring the Circle (The Story ofHipgnosis) | Dogwoof (UK),Utopia (US) |
| TBA | Switzerland[43] | FilmNation |
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