Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn’s intimate portraits of the greatest artists of our time are known all over the world. In 2025, the master photographer marked a double anniversary, celebrating both his 70th birthday and 50 years of creative work. To honor this special milestone, he opened a major retrospective at Fotografiska, which, after a successful premiere in Stockholm, continues its journey in Tallinn.

Corbijn, Anton is a journey through time, following the photographer’s remarkable career from the 1970s to the present day. The exhibition features portraits of music legends such as Depeche Mode, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Nick Cave, David Bowie, U2, The Rolling Stones, and many others – as well as artists like Gerhard Richter and Ai Weiwei, and leading figures from the world of fashion including Kate Moss, Rick Owens, Naomi Campbell, Virgil Abloh, and more.

“The Corbijn, Anton exhibition is close to my heart as it shows elements of all my periods of photography”, says Anton Corbijn.

As a creative and versatile artist within photography, music videos, and feature films, Corbijn is perhaps best known for immortalizing some of the greatest musicians, directors, and artists of our time and for his distinctive visual work.

“I am very proud of having been so active all these decades and worked hard to remain or at least try to remain relevant. Not always easy and something you can only judge in retrospect of course, so that is what this show hopefully does for me”, says Anton Corbijn.

Over the years, Corbijn has created a wide range of music videos for such artists as U2, Johnny Cash, Arcade Fire, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, Metallica, Nick Cave, Coldplay, The Killers and Roxette. He is the artistic director behind Depeche Mode and has been U2’s photographer for four decades.

“We are thrilled and proud to celebrate Anton Corbijn’s 50th anniversary as a photographer with this comprehensive exhibition. Corbijn, Anton has been curated in close collaboration with the artist himself, showcasing not only his most iconic and recognizable images but also a more personal, rarely seen selection of his own favorite works. Over the past five decades, Corbijn has captured legendary figures from the worlds of music and film, shaping how we see many of the cultural icons of our time,” says Johan Vikner, Global Director of Exhibitions at Fotografiska.

Anton Corbijn’s solo exhibition, presenting more than 150 works, is on view at Fotografiska Tallinn from January 24 until April 30. Accompanying the exhibition is the book Corbijn, Anton, available at the Fotografiska Tallinn museum shop.