Anton Corbijn, regarded by most as a ‘celebrity photographer,’ had the chance to capture some A-list names, including Nirvana. Cobain wanted Anton to shoot one more music video but the photographer wasn’t on board so the frontman cut all ties. Anton shared the story with Dazed:
“Nirvana had asked me to do a shoot, as did Details magazine, so I ended up shooting with the band for two days straight in and around Seattle. They were lovely and playful; I really enjoyed my time with them. Then Courtney [Love] showed Kurt [Cobain] some videos I did for Echo and the Bunnymen, and the next thing I knew, I was making a video with Nirvana for ‘Heart Shaped Box.'”
Cobain wanted to do one other shoot for another track. But when Anton declined, Kurt vowed never to do another music video; Anton explained:
“Kurt was just full of ideas and a delight to work with. He asked me after that video to do another one for ‘Penny Royal Tea,’ but I thought I could not stop the first one, so I declined as I didn’t want to disappoint him. He then said if you don’t do it, I will never do another video. And that was it. They never did, and I so wish I had taken up that offer in hindsight.”
Cobain stood by his words and never did any other music videos. ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ was the most-played video in 1993, allowing the band to win two Video Music Awards from MTV in 1994 for the song. However, Cobain couldn’t receive the award since the awards show took place right after the frontman killed himself. So ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ became the last ever project he worked on and released before his passing.
You can read Nirvana photographer Anton Corbijn’s interview with Dazed here and watch the music video for ‘Heart Shaped Box’ below.
