“I won’t go jumping off rocks wearing only a Dracula cape for just anyone.”
WAITS/CORBIJN ’77–’11, the iconic photo book of Tom Waits and Anton Corbijn, is back on shelves.
Originally released in 2013, this award-winning visual journey is getting a new, slightly smaller 8.1 x 11.4-inch format, hitting shelves on December 9 in the US and October 21 in Europe.
Over more than three decades, this book captures the long-running creative chemistry between Waits–the gravel-voiced, storytelling icon–and Corbijn, the Dutch photographer whose moody, cinematic style has shaped how we see some of rock’s most unforgettable figures.
The first black-and-white shots of a young Waits in Holland, taken by Corbijn in 1977, are where it all began. From there, the two careers feed off each other, growing in parallel.
The book is chronological, tracing Waits’ artistic evolution alongside Corbijn’s own photographic journey. From gritty urban streets to intimate studio sessions, Corbijn’s images reveal Waits not just as a musician, but as a larger-than-life character – the troubadour, the poet, the raconteur.
Meanwhile, Waits’ own photography, collected for the first time under the title Curiosities, offers fans a peek at his visual sensibilities, the same creative intelligence that fuels his music.
As Waits himself puts it: “Anton picks up a small black box, points it at you and all the leaves fall from the trees… I love working with Anton, he’s someone with a real point of view. Believe me, I won’t go jumping off rocks wearing only a Dracula cape for just anyone.”
With over 200 pages of portraits by Corbijn and 50+ pages of Waits’ own photos and musings, this book is a deep dive into one of music and photography’s most enduring collaborations.
Introductions from filmmaker Jim Jarmusch and critic Robert Christgau frame the collection, with Jarmusch describing it as “some kind of vortex, an axis of evil geniuses.”
Limited to 6,600 copies and housed in a slipcase, WAITS/CORBIJN ’77–’11 is a window into the creative friendship of two artistic visionaries.
Pre-order it now, and prepare to get lost in one of the most compelling visual and musical duos in modern history.
