For over three decades Daniel Corrigan has captured some of the most important moments in Minneapolis’ musical history. On Friday, October 28 Corrigan and friends celebrated the release of his book, “Heyday; 35 Years of Music in Minneapolis” which features Corrigan’s photography.
Corrigan remembers the day he received the final copy of the book in the mail. “I knew exactly what it was. I didn’t open it until I got to Matchbox (Coffee).” There Corrigan opened the package to see his book for the first time. “It’s beautiful!” said Corrigan with an ‘awe struck’ dreaminess tone. Minnesota Historical Society Press printed and released the book.
Each photograph immortalizes a key moment in the Minneapolis music scene. Photos of the Rhymesayers in 2000 when the collective of hip hop artists were just beginning to make a name for themselves. Another of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis from 1987, Babes in Toyland’s cover shoot for “Spanking Machine” back in 1990. The list of artists Corrigan has photographed far exceeds just our hometown favorites though. In “Heyday” there are incredibly composed shots of Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson at the old Met Center, Miles Davis at the Orpheum Theatre, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty at the Metrodome. And the list goes on.
So, how was Corrigan able to get such iconic shots of artists when performing live? Most of his work in Heyday was before digital photography, shot entirely on film. “My style is pretty much set up the picture how I want it to be and wait for it to develop into that.” said Corrigan of his shooting style. When I was finally able to afford to switching over to digital I only shot digital except for First Ave. I was shooting film for nearly another two years after that just because I didn’t want to change the quality of the archive.”
Ask Corrigan what he thinks of film today and he simply states, “Film is dead.” A harsh statement not easily digested by photographers who have decided to still shoot film despite the digital age. “Any time I see someone shooting film I ask them ‘why?’” exclaimed Corrigan. The only answer he’s gotten that he can agree with is the archiving process.
“It’s [film] easier to archive. I’ve lost pictures forever from data loss,” recounts Corrigan, who lost a winter’s worth of photos in one such data loss. “I worked on this incredible project—I had this theory that the light looks different when it’s really cold…like way below zero! Whenever it was 20 below at night I would go look for snowman. I would go out with the tripod and and shoot photos of snowmen with long exposure,” smiled Corrigan.
Corrigan is a minimalist, to a point that he feels it may have hindered his career as a professional photographer. “If you’re going to charge $2,500 a day, you better have a big lighting pack and some assistants to flash around at them. For my pictures, I very rarely carry more than what I could carry over a chain-link fence. I don’t need very much. Still with nothing more than his camera and a few lenses Corrigan has captured incredible portraits of artists including possibly one of his most recognized photos of all time, the cover shot for the Replacements “Let It Be” album.
Corrigan, who has lived Northeast for more than 20 years, is still under contract with First Avenue to shoot six shows a month there. Over 100 historic moments captured by Corrigan at First Avenue hang on the walls. “They belong there,” said Corrigan. When asked what he thinks of his book ‘Heyday’ and his work throughout the years Corrigan without hesitation and simply says, “I’m the luckiest guy you know.”
Daniel Corrigan’s work is currently on exhibit at the Mill City Museum through April 30, 2017.
Photos by Mike Madison.