Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
by Dave Goodwin
published: 14 / 2 / 2021

intro
In this month's 'The Image That Made Me Weep' column, Dave Goodwin takes us on a deeply personal journey into a black-and-white picture of Joy Division's Ian Curtis
Taken by my Favourite photographer Anton Corbijn it is this image of Ian Curtis that I have chosen for my 'Image That Made Me Weep'. Although this image doesn’t actually bring me to tears it does the closest thing to it. One of music's most troubled souls, Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980. At the time I was embarking on my own musical journey. Although it did not really mean much to me back then, this image now invokes all sorts of sadness, melancholy, and a degree of vulnerability. As a sufferer of newly found epilepsy and going through a series of mental health issues, I find the image has me questioning what actually goes on in other people's heads. I'm not really sure at what point it was taken but to me it doesn’t really matter. No-one can tell the inner thoughts of Curtis at this time, as Corbjin secretly presses the button, but there are thousands out there who feel his anguish daily. His posture, the cigarette burning in his fingers, his thumb and fingers pressed hard into eyes and temple and even the way he crosses his legs seem to place him inexplicably in a state of helplessness.
Also In The Image That Made Me Weep
Billie Holiday (2020)
Black Sabbath (2020)
Clash (2020)
Dave Grohl (2021)
David Bowie (2020)
Band Links:-
http://www.joydiv.org/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Division
https://www.facebook.com/JoyDivisionOfficial
https://www.joydivisionofficial.com/reimagined/
Have a Listen:-
interviews |
Interview (2012) |
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Anthony Strutt talks to bassist Peter Hook about his second book ‘Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division’, which tells of his life in Joy Division |
profiles |
New Dawn Fades (2016) |
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Nicky Crewe attends 'New Dawn Fades', a theatre play on the history of Joy Division |
Control (2007) |
features |
The Image That Made Me Weep (2020) |
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In our series 'The Image That Made Me Weep', in which a different one of our writers or photographers writes of a favourite photograph, Cila Warncke reflects on a photograph by Anton Corbijn of Joy Division at Lancaster Gate Underground Station in November 1979. |
Ten Songs That Made Me Love... (2015) |
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Photoscapes (2015) |
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In this 'Photoscapes' Marie Hazelwood photographs Ian Curtis's one-time house and grave |
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Plus Minus: Singles 1976-1980 (2010) |
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Faultlessly packaged and presented vinyl only Joy Division box set, which is only nevertheless for the hardcore fan |
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