A Look Inside on Anton Corbijn’s Hall of Rock Royalty
Tough portraits of Massive Attack, U2, Nirvana go up in a new show at Fotografiska Berlin, journeying through the photographer’s illustrious 50-year career.
Summary
- Fotografiska Berlin will unveil a career-spanning showcase on Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn from May 9 through September 20
- Spanning his five-decade-long career, the exhibition features nearly 150 images of culture’s biggest names
A major retrospective celebrating Anton Corbijn, one of music’s favorite photographers, is heading to Fotografiska Berlin. Off the heels of its Stockholm presentation, Corbijn, Anton takes shape as a journey into the artist’s impressive 50-year career through nearly 150 images of the biggest names in culture.
From snaps of Björk to David Bowie, Ai Weiwei to Gerhard Richter, Brian Eno to Massive Attack, Rick Owens to Virgil Abloh, Corbijn’s approach to the lens is defined by pure grit and honesty. Alongside his photographic oeuvre, this spirit carries into his directorial work, with six full-length features and music videos for Depeche Mode, Arcade Fire, U2, Metallica and Nirvana under his belt.
For Corbijn, this approach is less an extension of himself, but an essence of being: “Your style is basically your inability to do it any other way,” he explained. “I wasn’t searching for style when I started taking pictures. I couldn’t do it any other way.”
The upcoming show was curated in close collaboration with the artist, John Vikner, Fotografiska’s Global Director of Exhibitions, explained. His most well-known images will be on view, paired with “a more personal, rarely seen selection of his own favorite works,” including picks from his Staged series, where Corbijn dresses up as late icons, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain and John Lennon, among them.
With humble roots as a quiet vicar’s son, he always music was a bridge to the world beyond the small Dutch island he grew up on, a path to the “promise land,” as he called it. “The camera is a wonderful instrument to connect yourself to people, to give yourself a purpose, to say something to somebody,” he said. “That’s what I found when I was younger because I was super shy. But I was somehow driven by the desire to do something with the camera, and that overrode the shyness.”
Corbijn, Anton will open in Berlin on May 9 and will remain on view through September 20. Can’t make it? The artist’s corresponding title, published with Hannibal Books and designed by M/M (Paris), is now available online. Check out Fotografiska’s website for more information.
Fotografiska Berlin
Oranienburger Str. 54,
10117 Berlin, Germany
