Anton Corbijn 70 years – his mark on the Dutch postage stamp

The Leeuwarder Courant recently marked the 70th birthday of photographer Anton Corbijn, known for his iconic portraits of artists. Less frequently mentioned, but certainly worthwhile for stamp collectors: over the years, Corbijn designed 18 Dutch stamps. On the occasion of his anniversary and a retrospective exhibition, I look back briefly at these special designs—their origins, purpose, and design—themes I have discussed in more detail previously. In this blog, the approach is slightly different than usual: this time, a person forms the starting point, with the stamp serving as an illustrative element rather than the main subject. Spectacular career In 1972, the 17-year-old, somewhat withdrawn and shy Anton Corbijn managed to adopt a photographer's pose during the performance of the Groningen symphonic jazz-rock band Solution on the Grote Markt in Groningen, using his father's camera. The photo he sent was published in a music magazine. With this publication, the career of the now 70-year-old photographer, filmmaker, and video director Anton Corbijn began. On October 2, 2025, Corbijn won the prestigious ICON Award for the Music Photography Awards at the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards in London. In honor of his 70th birthday, a retrospective work entitled 'Compenion piece' (560 pages) was published simultaneously with the exhibition of the same name in Stockholm and subsequently in Berlin, Tallinn, and Shanghai. Photographic stamps Four issues by the now world-famous photographer Corbijn have been released in our country, comprising a total of 16 different stamps, in the creation of which Corbijn participated as a photographer and filmmaker. 1) Between Two Cultures (nvph 1957): On the occasion of the 2001 Book Week with the theme 'The Land of Origin', five stamps focus on literature and five on photography, featuring a photo by Corbijn of supermodels Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell in Dublin against a light background. In addition to visual contrast, the square photo also captures the folly and loneliness of the subjects. 2) 3D Film Stamp (nvph 2769): To mark the 40th anniversary of the Netherlands Film Festival and the 30th anniversary of the festival in Utrecht in 2010, a one-second short film starring Cerice van Houten was created, recorded by Anton Corbijn as an innovative and memorable celebration of the art of film. Using the lenticular technology technique, 30 different images are placed on a surface that yields 30 frames. The short film 'Smallest Shortest Film' (duration just one second) is only 'played' by tilting the stamp. In it, you see Cerice van Houten sticking her index finger between her teeth within a second. The stamp is a tribute to Dutch film and the Dutch landscape, and refers to the 2-cent children's stamp of 1951. Corbijn acted as a color video director here, rather than a black-and-white photographer. 3) Children's Stamps 2013 (nvph 3107): Corbijn photographed children participating in an educational project in Ethiopia. The six stamps focus on the contrast between children attending school and those working in the fields. The use of color creates a contrast in the images. 4) Doutzen Kroes (nvph 3462/71) Award: With the topless supermodel in sexy swimwear, Corbijn believes he, as a photographer, has walked the path “back to the essence.” Doutzen was the figurehead (and is the face) of Dutch fashion, but at the same time, she is also the abstraction of fashion itself. The blue circles playfully symbolize the elusiveness of fashion/clothing (literally and figuratively) and the variations within fashion. World fame is present even on foreign stamps. In Benin, an unofficial stamp (middle photo top left) featuring both supermodels was issued in 2002. Sao Tome and Principe also paid tribute to Corbijn with photographic images of his oeuvre, even combined with an image of the photographer himself! Whether these stamps are ever sold in the country itself is doubtful. Philatelists anywhere in the world are the real buyers. Corbijn's photography style Corbijn works with a long shutter speed, allowing more light to pass through the camera's aperture. As a result, the images possess a blurred and silky-smooth effect. An atmosphere of movement, a sense of dynamism, emerges in the photo of the children from Ethiopia, who look at you standing still, frontally, and at rest. He accepts 'technical flaws' such as slight blur. He allows errors without correction to emphasize the personality and authenticity of the subjects. The contour lines are vague and certainly not sharp. The photos show a striking amount of detail, but lack depth and strong contrasts. Unfortunately, that characteristic effect of the large photos does not come into its own as well at postage-stamp size. “I enjoy photographing people who are in the public eye. I feel that gives you a head start – you can play with the image that celebrities have already built of themselves,” says Corbijn, who, as a photographer, knows well how to use that to his advantage.