Atlantica - 01.09.2003, Page 17

A T L A N T I C A 15
staged to exhibit at the Reykjavík Art
Museum in a year or two’s time. The
details are still being ironed out, but the
fact is, everybody wants a piece of the new
Griffin.
GRIFFIN ON ICE
“I find it amazing being married to an
Icelander,” Griffin emotes with the distinc-
tion of someone who has discovered love
at first sight, someone with the conviction
that he’s on the path for which he was des-
tined. “I might have been married to a
woman from Wales, or Germany, or
America. I’m really pleased that I might
spend the majority of the rest of my life
here, rather than in some suburb of
London or Paris. I feel it was meant to hap-
pen for me to be here.”
So there is some hippie in there after all.
But for every bit of hippie, there is the
ambitious, business-minded opportunist
who repeatedly moulds himself into what
the world of photography calls for. Though
his success may have been written in the
stars, Griffin’s destiny was not handed to
him on a plate. After 30 years of hard
work, we have the Brian Griffin who writes
films and directs IKEA commercials, the
Brian Griffin who shoots music videos for
Elvis Costello, and the Brian Griffin who
haggles with editors at Vogue. Perhaps the
only thing these Brians have in common is
that they don’t get much sleep.
“Photographers need to look and see an
idol. It’s now open for me to take that man-
tle on.” His gaze rests frankly before him,
unlit cigarette balanced between his middle
and index fingers. “You can ferret around in
the lower echelons forever, but to try to get
toward the top of this profession…well, I’d
never recommend it to anybody.”
Krista Mahr is a freelance writer from California.
Griffin's seminal album cover photo for Depeche Mode's Broken Frame.
Brian Griffin
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