In photography, skill and gear matter. Luck, too, plays a certain role. But it is access that counts for most. If you can get a shot from a perspective that your viewer couldn’t hope to access themselves, then you have something worth sharing, almost regardless of the image’s quality. In that sense, the images in How To Disappear: A Portrait Of Radiohead captured by Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood provide a level of access to that band’s internal relationships and intimate moments that make it a fascinating and unique artefact.
A shot of Thom Yorke posing self-consciously for another photographer, also captured in the same frame, is the perfect example of what makes this collection something which fans will find so captivating. To date, it’s just those outsider shots we have seen, but Greenwood’s view of the world opens a doorway into the band’s interior life. He allows us a fleeting glance into how his bandmates felt during a particularly successful, doubtless intense period of their time together (mostly from 2003 onwards, at which point the band were well-established as a household name).
The images include live shots, interesting for their side-of-stage perspective, but it is those from backstage, or in the rehearsal room which will provoke the most intrigue for fans. Shots of Yorke meditating, or the band eating soup together in a meeting, give insights into their bandmates’ relationships, their private moments, and the sometime banality of being in a touring band – and are what make How To Disappear a singular collection which Radiohead fans will treasure.
How To Disappear – A Portrait Of Radiohead, Colin Greenwood (John Murray Press)
Price: £26/£66 signed edition. Info: here
words HUGH RUSSELL