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.

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