Anton Corbijn
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Anton Corbijn (born May 20, 1955) is a Dutch photographer born in Strijen, the Netherlands. He is also well known for directing music videos and his 2007 Control about the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis.
Career
Corbijn began taking photographs during a live concert in 1972. In 1979 he moved to London, England and became a regular photographer for the New Musical Express. His first assignment was Bill Haley, but he became best known for his work with such Post-Punk bands as Joy Division and Public Image Ltd. Later, he began to divide his time between America and England, shooting editorially for Spin, Details, Vogue, and Rolling Stone Magazine.
Corbijn decided to move into directing music videos, more or less accidentally. Palais Schaumburg asked him to do one, which he reluctantly accepted. After seeing Video, Propaganda insisted that Corbijn would direct Dr. Mabuse. After that, David Sylvian, Echo & The Bunnymen and Golden Earring asked for his services. Also the renowned industrial EBM act Front 242 was presented Corbijn's artwork and accepted shooting a video with him, it resulted in a very strange version of "Headhunter" due to Corbijn's rather limited knowledge of the English language at the time. Nevertheless a milestone in Corbijn's career.
In 1994, after directing various music videos, Corbijn directed a short film about Captain Beefheart for the BBC called "Some Yoyo Stuff".
In 2005, Palm Pictures released a DVD collection of Corbijn's music video output as part of the Director's Label series. As well as a 56-page booklet, the DVD also includes outtakes, shorts and documentaries as well as commentaries on various videos from the artists themselves.
On 17 May 2007 Corbijn's first feature film Control about the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis premiered to rave reviews Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on Deborah Curtis's book Touching From A Distance about her late husband and the new biography Torn Apart by longtime Mancunians Lindsay Reade (Tony Wilson's ex-wife) and Mick Middles. Although shown outside the Palme d'Or competition, Control was the big winner of the Director'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.
Film directing
Corbijn began his music video directing career when Palais Schaumburg asked him to direct a video. After seeing the resulting video for Hockey, the band Propaganda had Corbijn direct Dr. Mabuse. After that he directed videos for David Sylvian, Echo & the Bunnymen, Golden Earring, Front 242, Depeche Mode, Roxette and U2. His first video in colour was made for U2 in 1984 for their single "Pride". In 2005 Palm Pictures released a DVD collection of Corbijn's music video output as part of the Director's Label series.
In 1994 Corbijn directed a short film about Captain Beefheart/Don Van Vliet for the BBC called Some Yoyo Stuff. He made his feature film debut with Control, a film about the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. It premiered to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2007. The film is based on Deborah Curtis' book Touching from a Distance about her late husband and the biography Torn Apart by Lindsay Reade (Tony Wilson's ex-wife) and Mick Middles. Although shown outside the Palme d'Or competition, Control was the big winner of the Director'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.
2010 Corbijn returned as a director with the character-based thriller The American, starring George Clooney.
On 26 October 2011 Corbijn directed a webcast by Coldplay from the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid, Spain.
His film A Most Wanted Man was released in 2014. The John Le Carré novel of the same name, which is loosely based on the true War on Terror story of Murat Kurnaz, was set in part in Hamburg, as parts of the movie were.
In February 2014, he start filming his next project Life about James Dean and photographer Dennis Stock.
Style
Corbijn tends to eschew traditional glamour photography, instead favoring a rawer look, often in black-and-white. His subjects appear to be calm and far removed from everyday life. His photographs show raw emotion. His patented and influential style of black and white imagery with stark contrasts on grainy film (sometimes referred to as "overcooked") has been imitated and copied in such extent that it has become a rock cliché and a vital part of the visual language in the 1990s.
