Control
The death of the great analog geniuses is upon as. William Orbit, Bob Mackie, Dolly Parton. In 2020 a whole crop of them disappeared, yet with a pandemic on, their deaths didn’t seem quite as profound. In 2026, it’s hitting right between the eyes.
We are in the age of artificial intelligence,where algorithms dictate what gets made and how. Oh brave new, boring world.Who’s in control anymore, the one who pushes the button or the one who distills the information and spits it out rote? My mind was reeling with this question and many others this week, and as I found myself spiralling down a deep eddy, Iput on some music, poured a beer and opened a book to disappear into something real.
Anton Corbijn is very quickly becoming my favourite photographer—sorry Cartier Bresson. I’m a monochrome girl,drawn to stark images with infinite contrast. There’s nothing like a Corbijn portrait to bring out the rights, wrongs and maybes of a subject. His monograph1-2-3-4, is an excellent study of rock’n’roll portraiture. It takes intuition to make musicians—who inherently believe themselves delicate geniuses—come across as mere mortals. Yet, that’s what Corbijn does. I do not have a favourite portrait, rather I enjoy the series he has with certain musicians, particularly Tom Waits and Depeche Mode. The close relationship shared between the photographer and these musicians is evident in the ease which with they succumb to his lens.
Tom Waits is a wild one. I love his brand (forgive me) but am not familiar with his music. His acting is sublime, with no one coming close to his Renfield. The rebellious uniqueness that draws my respect for him, is witnessed by the dozens of Corbijn snapped pics. Depeche Mode on the other hand I love. Violator is easily on my top ten list, and I believe I’ve written an entry about Music for the Masses (if I haven’t, I probably should). Oddly, I’ve never felt the need to attend a concert, nor do I virtually stalk them. I just really love their music and this weird relationship translates itself to how I connect to their portraits.Dave Gahan is clearly the man, yet doesn’t come across as such. In not a single Corbijn image have I seen his frontman ego come first. Instead, the mystery of the band is equally shared amongst all group members. A unifying feat specific to Anton Corbijn’s greater oeuvre, because let’s face it when documenting U2and Metallica, the average fan has to fight hard to separate the lead from those other guys.
Remember when music videos were artistic expression? When the music video a band made and the director they worked with was an extension of their artistry? Would Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence, as directed by Anton Corbijn, win over viewers today? And lord knows, the PC police of the 21st century would be all over U2’s video for One. What a pity, because for me both videos decode the respective songs. On first viewing of Enjoy the Silence, I couldn’t for the life of me understand why Gahan was trapezing across beautiful terrain carrying a lawn chair, dressed as a king. Then the closing shot: ENJOY THE SILENCE. And for One, set in freshly unified Berlin with the lads dressed in drag, the video is no way close to being funny and the appearance of Bono’s dad lend sitself to a quite serious theme. Yet, for a long time I didn’t know what that message was. It took an entry by Adam Clayton in 1-2-3-4 and a re-read of the song’s lyrics, for the a-ha moment to manifest. It takes an unplugged yet very connected mind to devise and direct such nuanced music videos.
For Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last film role to have been directed by Anton Corbijn,was kismet. A Most Wanted Man is one of my favourite films. A celluloid tale that offers layers upon layers of commentary that Le Carré’s book could not. At the film’s centre is an imperfect man manouevring in a duplicitous world. Günther Bachmann spends his life desperately trying to bring concrete order in a world of smoke and mirrors, knowing full well it’s a battle that will forever rage. Yet, he valiantly pursues the fight until his greatest demon, his unshakeable integrity, destroys him. What an eye, Mr. Corbijn. What an eye.
Image: Graffiti of Unknown New Zealand Artist, Canterbury, 2023
