The day we clicked – rock photography
Pioneers of rock photography talk through their favourite shots
Anton Corbijn: U2, 1986
Photograph: Anton Corbijn
I’d been working with U2 for four years when we did this picture. The working titles for their new album were “the two Americas” and “desert songs”, so I went looking for deserts in California. The shots which include the actual Joshua Tree were shot in Death Valley, the cover shot was at Zabriskie Point. The tree is named after the biblical Joshua. I suggested it to Bono, and he came back the next morning with a bible in his hand saying we’d go for it.
I came to England from Holland in the late 70s and started working for the NME. The interesting thing is that the two groups I’m most associated with – Depeche Mode and U2 – are both bands I was not a fan of at first. I turned Depeche Mode down for five years because I thought they were too poppy. With U2, they were playing on a boat moored on the Mississippi and I thought, “OK, I’ll listen to a couple of songs just to prove I was there then I’ll leave.” I didn’t realise the boat would set off, so I had to stay for the gig. I liked the guys and ended up travelling with them and did more pictures. It was the beginning of a friendship.
When the Joshua Tree album came out and became so big I felt very removed from it. I looked at the billboards and it didn’t feel like the little picture I printed in my dark room. It became this other thing.
Photographing U2 has become more difficult as they have become more well known. The Joshua Tree was taken over a period of three days travelling through the desert. It’s unthinkable for U2 to do that now. For their last album I had two hours in bad weather.
Even after 28 years I always try to take a different picture of U2. If I’m stuck, I’ll go to Holland, smoke a joint and come back with new ideas.
Read the full article at Guardian News >>