Hats and headgear are frequent motifs in Anton Corbijn's work, as the current retrospective of his work at Berlin's C/O gallery demonstrates. There's that unmistakable photo of Captain Beefheart's Don Van Vliet in the desert with hat in hand, a 1978 shot of John Martyn cloaked like a medieval monk and every U2 shoot since the Edge put his hat on (though there is a rare 2003 photo on show that features the guitarist bareheaded).
A shot of The Rolling Stones from 1995 features each band member with something on their head, though Charlie Watts’s expression suggests he was under considerable sartorial duress.
A fondness for millinery is just one of many distinguishing marks of the Dutch photographer’s work. In fact, he has defined the visual lingua-franca we associate with so many of today’s big acts.
The relationships he built and has maintained with bands means you can see a through-line in their creative development as the years go by. Over the years the volume of photos of Nick Cave, U2, REM, Metallica, Tom Waits and select others has stacked up. These acts understand how the visual shorthand of Corbijn’s work has enhanced their own and have used it to best effect. Judging by the work on show in Berlin, Arcade Fire, relative newcomers to that pantheon, have also recognised how the photographer can embellish their narrative.
Dead pop stars
The most striking section of the exhibition is the 'A. Somebody' series for which Corbijn photographed himself mugging for the camera dressed as various dead pop stars. Using wigs, costumes and make-up, he appears as Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Buckley, Freddie Mercury, John Lennon, Bob Marley and others in various humdrum locations around his hometown of Strijen on the island of Hoeksche Waard. It was a love of music and his skill with a camera which took him off the island in the first place so the return for his take on these storied idols brings it all back home.
The exhibition is a reminder of Corbijn’s strength as a visual spin doctor. So many of these images have become part and parcel of pop culture’s memory bank that we now invariably associate the band with the Corbijn photo – or the location of the photo (U2 weren’t the only act he persuaded into the desert for a shoot, for instance). It’s a talent and a power he was using long before visual memes became a valuable currency in the online world.
Arcade Fire aside, there are few newer, younger acts in this exhibition. Perhaps they can’t afford his fees or others have taken his place for this generation.
The photographer himself has also moved on. He now directs films such as Control and A Most Wanted Man, while his recent photo shoots have been with artists such as Chris Ofili, Ai Weiwei and Jeff Koons. His eye for a perfect image is undimmed.
Anton Corbijn . Retrospective is at the C/O Berlin until january 2016
