Depth of Field: Anton Corbijn

Anton Corbijn is a dutch photographer, best known transforming the images of famous musical outfits of the 1980s, mainly U2, Depeche Mode, REM and Joy Division. Indeed, in 2007, he directed his first feature film, 'Control', based on the life and work of Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Also a documentary has just been released in cinemas about his life and work, Anton Corbijn Inside Out (trailer found here), looking at his childhood and how he sought the constant approval of his father. I did see a shorter programme about the making of Control a couple of years back, containing many talking heads interviews with many celebrities, all of which were singing his praises.

Corbijn is known for having a very distinct style, summed-up by one website as his "trademark rich tones, shallow depth of field and high grain". I have been a fan of his work since the Joy Division film, and definitely aim to see his biography at the cinema soon. From what I know of him, he represents all that an artist should be: a shy, self-deprecating figure, stemming from a small remote town, and working alone.

Below are some of his images, along with my annotations in view of his use of depth of field:

An iconic image of Clint Eastwood. Need I say anything about the depth of field in this one? This is what I meant in my 'Depth of Field & Aperture' post about the focus point not having to be the first port of call in the image. Here. it is quite evident the focal point is the face, but the use of a wide aperture allows for the blur of the hand to be equally as prominent. You get the feeling Corbijn knows which aperture to use in every scenario. This is what we as students should also be aiming for.

It was Corbijn that shot the images for the G-Star Raw ads we see on billboards and bus shelters. Do I really need to say anything about the depth of field in this image of Tony Kebble (British Actor from my all-time favourite film Dead Man's Shoes, foreground) and Alexendra Maria Lara (German Actress)? OK, I will: this extremely shallow depth of field shot has us looking at the woman through the man. Its as if the advertisers are confident we've already seen enough of the man, so now we're given a glimpse of the woman that (quite literally in this case) stands behind him. Its more about the style and the image being sold than the actual product itself. Corbijn is all about style, and the aperture setting has the creative power to exploit this.

 This  is Liv Tyler. You can see why a famous brand went for an impresario such as Corbijn, with his ability to get the best from the rich and famous and the way he shoots in black and white. Shallow depth of field also good for ads, for all we want really is the garment.