The Rolling Stones. David Bowie. Joy Division. Patti Smith. There are few cultural figures that photographer Anton Corbijn has not captured over the past 50 years. The artist’s unmistakable visual language has profoundly shaped contemporary music. Fotografiska Tallinn marks the photographer’s 70th birthday and celebrates more than five decades of creative practice with a major new exhibition. Corbijn, Anton features more than 150 works, revealing the atmospheric Corbijn universe – dark, intimate and unmistakably his own. Maarja Loorents, Head of Exhibitions, explains: “Rather than following a strict chronology, the exhibition brings together works created over the past 50 years – many of them personal favourites of the artist himself. This uncompromising consistency gives his photographs a timeless quality.”
The artist’s early years could not have been further away from the world of rock and roll. He was the oldest son of a preacher, on a small island community in the Netherlands. In an interview with Dazed, he said: “Across the border from the island was the ‘promised land.’ That’s where music was made. It was a different, freer life. I elevated the ideas of a liberal lifestyle, as opposed to the lifestyle I had.” The artist began shooting local bands at the age of 17, before moving to London to work for NME magazine as a staff photographer. He soon became one of the most sought-after figures on the scene, capturing timeless portraits, album covers and band imagery that have shaped how artists and music are seen worldwide. Fotografiska’s presentation bring together the best of his subjects and the exhibition is packed to bursting with musical legends: Annie Lennox, Bono, Lenny Kravitz, Nick Cave, Nirvana and Slash. However, those featured also include icons of film like Clint Eastwood, Cameron Diaz and Willem Dafoe, as well as recognisable names from politics and culture such as Ai WeiWei, Kate Moss and Nelson Mandela.
In addition to photography, Corbijn has worked extensively with music video and feature films, expanding his visual language into moving image and narrative. He has directed more than 80 music videos for acts including Nirvana, U2, Depeche Mode and Joy Division. This aspect of his career is sometimes overlooked, yet Corbijn is the creative force behind Nirvana’s Heart-Shaped Box (1993), Bryan Adams’ Do I Have to Say the Words?, and Coldplay’s Talk. His directing also extends to feature films, including A Most Wanted Man (2014), an adaptation of John le Carré’s film of the same name, and Life (2015), based on the friendship between Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock and James Dean. Fotografiska honours this dimension of his creative output with a large, immersive music room, offering a powerful 360-degree experience of Corbijn’s videography. Here, audiences can step into the music videos that have shaped generations.
The artist once said that “all photographs must have something about the person, something about you, and be unlike anything seen before.” Corbijn’s work does exactly that. His images are instantly recognisable, yet never repetitive, shaped by an unwavering commitment to authenticity, atmosphere and emotional truth. Anton Corbijn at Fotografiska Tallinn offers a rare opportunity to experience the full breadth of this singular vision. Bringing together photography, film and music video, the exhibition moves beyond retrospective to become an immersive portrait of an artist whose influence continues to reverberate across contemporary art. At 70, Corbijn’s finger remains on the pulse of today’s culture.
Corbijn, Anton is on view at Fotografiska Tallinn until 30 April: tallinn.fotografiska.com
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. Neneh Cherry, London 1992 © Anton Corbijn.
2. Kate Moss, New York 1996 © Anton Corbijn.
3. Eurythmics, London 1990 © Anton Corbijn.
4. Patti Smith, Paris 2011 © Anton Corbijn.
