I think of him as a Maestro - a term most commonly associated with music conductors, but also appropriate for 'someone with exceptional skill and knowledge in their field' : Anton Corbijn.

I remember the quality of his work, mostly for the NME in the early 1980s, when every session - many of them covers - produced an internal gasp of admiration from me, and probably a soupçon of envy too. It was uncanny. How the hell did he take so many moody, authoritative, definitive portraits?! I was working with the same material but felt outclassed.

Image by Jill Furmanovsky

I can still recall most of his classic shoots because they are unforgettable - David Bowie as Elephant Man, Joy Division in the tube station, all his portraits of Sinéad O’Connor, U2 at Joshua Tree (and everywhere), Captain Beefheart hat in hand in the desert, Miles Davis with his head in his hands, the Rolling Stones in masks - to name just a few from his vast archive.

When I finally met him, it all made more sense. Anton has an impressive and charismatic presence: strikingly tall, serious but twinkly, softly spoken, impeccable English with a charming Dutch accent. He is someone his distinguished subjects want to work for. They give him pictures, feel honoured to be in his gaze, and trust his artistic integrity.

Image by Jill Furmanovsky

And he really knows his craft, knows which lenses to use, what height to shoot at, how much to have in focus, and where to place people. His brilliance is in making the most of a wintry tree in the background, a winding path, or a shadow on a wall. And he knows how the final print will look on paper. He often collaborated with another Maestro, the B&W printer Michael Spry. I photographed them together in 2005, like a fangirl.

He has been a Maestro for many years, both as a film director and photographer, and now, most deservedly, he is also an Abbey Road Studios MPA ICON.