Anton Corbijn: Career Timeline & Chapters
The collection
Follow Corbijn’s career in date order. The six chapters cover consecutive periods, so the red chapter links move forward with the years. Several milestones can belong to the same chapter.
Browse all chapters · chronological order
Chapter 1 · 1955–1979: Finding a Way into Music Chapter 2 · 1979–1985: London, Post-Punk and Moving Images Chapter 3 · 1986–1990: Building a Visual World Chapter 4 · 1991–2006: Stage, Theatre and Reinvention Chapter 5 · 2007–2015: Cinema and Retrospective Chapter 6 · 2016–2026: The Continuing Career
1955
Born in Strijen
The beginning of the career’s Dutch context.
Chapter 1 →
1972
First concert photographs
A borrowed camera becomes a way into music.
Chapter 1 →
1979
London and Joy Division
The move to England and the early Joy Division encounter.
Chapter 2 →
1983
Music-video work begins
The agency biography dates the start of his video practice to this year.
Chapter 2 →
1986
A Question of Time
His first Depeche Mode video.
Chapter 3 →
1987
A developing DM sequence
Strangelove, Never Let Me Down Again and Behind the Wheel.
Chapter 3 →
1989
Famouz
The first book gathers the earlier monochrome photographs.
Chapter 3 →
1990
Enjoy the Silence
The wandering king becomes a defining moving image.
Chapter 3 →
1993
The stage and the body
Stage design expands; Walking in My Shoes is released.
Chapter 4 →
1997
Ultra-era films
Barrel of a Gun, It’s No Good and Useless.
Chapter 4 →
2001
a.somebody begins
The 2001–2002 self-portraits bring borrowed identities to Strijen.
Chapter 4 →
2006
Suffer Well
A return to directing a Depeche Mode promo.
Chapter 4 →
2007
Control
The first feature film reaches audiences.
Chapter 5 →
2010
The American
George Clooney leads the suspense drama.
Chapter 5 →
2013
Waits/Corbijn ’77–’11
A book built around a long creative exchange.
Chapter 5 →
2014
A Most Wanted Man
The John le Carré adaptation.
Chapter 5 →
2015
Life and the Hague exhibitions
Cinema and retrospective photography develop in parallel.
Chapter 5 →
2019
Spirits in the Forest
The concert experience meets the lives of fans.
Chapter 6 →
2020
Depeche Mode in book form
TASCHEN’s limited edition precedes the later XL volume.
Chapter 6 →
2023
Ghosts Again and Hipgnosis
A new Depeche Mode chapter and a documentary about album art.
Chapter 6 →
2024
Before We Drown
A further Corbijn-directed Memento Mori film.
Chapter 6 →
2025
Corbijn, Anton
The broad retrospective book accompanies the Stockholm exhibition.
Chapter 6 →
2026
Fotografiska Berlin
The museum lists the exhibition for 9 May–20 September.
Chapter 6 →
Reading the dates
Years identify the events described: an early encounter, a release, a publication or an exhibition. A work may have developed over several years. Chapters follow consecutive periods; companion guides explore subjects that span more than one period.
Sources and credits
