Anton Corbijn Interview: How I Became a Photographer

“I always saw my work as me diving into the world and giving this image back to the world.” Meet the legendary photographer and director Anton Corbijn, known for his iconic pictures of musicians such as Joy Division, Björk and The Rolling Stones. In this video, he talks about working within the framework of simplicity, limitations and imperfection. Growing up as “the son of a preacher, in a village on an island,” Corbijn felt that his world was quite severe and restricted until he came across music from and pictures of e.g., The Beatles, which presented him with something far more liberal: “I gravitated towards that world. I found there was an excitement I guess was lacking in my life.” Later, he moved to England to be closer to where the music was made, and here he photographed the band Joy Division (1979) – photos which later became iconic. “The imperfection in how I work is always there for me.” Corbijn, who prefers to go on photoshoots alone, has been very conscious of avoiding being labelled a “rock