āRobert Smith isnāt peopleās perceptionsā: Stories behind classic photos of The Cure
As the Cure head out on tour across the UK, renowned photographer Tom Sheehan takes us on a trip through some classic pictures of the band.
Tom Sheehan has been taking photos of The Cure since the ā80s. Snatching moments on tour in dressing rooms around the world. Persuading the band to pose in major European cities. Capturing that intense connection Robert Smith has with the camera, and acting as a conduit to the readers of Melody Maker, NME, Sounds and Record Mirror.
Sheehanās new book The Cure: Pictures of You is a visual record of one of the UKās most influential bands. As The Cure head out on tour across the UK, Sheehan looks back on his decades of working with the band to share his memories and the behind-the-scenes stories of some of his favourite shots.
The first time I met Robert [Smith] and Lol [Tolhurst, the Cureās former drummer] was at the Shepherds Bush Hilton in 1982. The Cure were supporting the Banshees, and Robert was also playing in the Banshees so he was a tired boy, I guess.
We were under the cosh because they were about to head off to soundcheck. So, my journalist colleague got about 20 minutes on tape. I got a few frames of them going through a revolving door going out of the hotel. When I look at those pictures, I see thereās a lot of humour going on.
On that half roll of film, the majority of them theyāre larking about and Robert was smiling. It was a very comfortable entry into the world of The Cure. Thereās that kind of rolling humour that The Cure have, which, luckily for me, I seem to have tapped into from our very first encounter. The perception of Robert at that time wasnāt a very happy guy. He isnāt what peopleās perceptions of him are.
Prior to a band recording or doing a gig or whatever, thereās always a little bit of camaraderie. Youāre setting things up and there might be a little bit of joshing going on, but the minute you start rolling, youāre working. Iām performing as much as they are. Theyāve got to respond to me.
Robert does have a reputation for being a control freak, but I think he hands over the baton to whoever is working with. He aināt going to leap through hoops of fire, and it was never in my modus operandi to get pictures that made the turn look foolish. But I think he trusts people that he knows can do the job.
The Cure on tour: Robert Smith in Bologna. Photo: Tom Sheehan
Robert Smith enjoys the sculptures in Bologna: The Cure on tour in Italy, June 1984
This was on The Top tour. I joined them in Italy. They were quite a tight band. Thereās always this thing when you join a band on tour, even if they know you a bit, you still feel like the outsider because youāre not part of the gang. Although you might be an honorary member for two or three days, youāre an outsider. Itās like you canāt argue with a married couple. Itās the same with any band, you know: theyāve got their own lingo, their own ways. Youāre witnessing it, but youāre actually outside of it. And youāll never be able to penetrate it.
That statue with a fountain is in Bologna, and itās on a Sunday morning. The day before, the gig was greatā¦ but earlier on in the day, Robert had a dicky tummy. I think heād eaten a dodgy prawn or something and he was laying on the on the dressing room floor, groaning in pain prior to soundcheck.
He recovered enough the next morning to go out. But it was a case of, letās nail it. So that was just a quick once around the block and take some pictures. It was really fortuitous that there was some nice architecture around to utilise.
Lol Tolhurst and Robert Smith. Photo: Tom Sheehan
A cheeky moment with Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst: The Cure on tour in Italy, June 1984
I have a history of them doing stuff [for other photographers] and me walking in and taking over the studio. There was this really famous Italian photographer who was shooting them for a really high-end publication. This guy was set up and then he was done, and he was talking to his assistant. I just shifted the lights around a bit, and whacked off a couple of frames. That was on the hoof, you know? If something presents itself, you just go to go, there you go chaps. And bang, bang, bang. This picture is the one Lol used on the cover of the UK version of his biography, Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys.
A dressing room portrait. Photo: Tom Sheehan
Getting Robert out of bed: The Cure on tour in Brussels, November 1987
It was a Saturday night, they played some club in Brussels which I canāt recall. Weāre in the dressing room and Robertās sorting out his hair and all that stuff. Iāve just got a couple of plastic backgrounds on a wall and Iām just saying, āRobert, the blue one.ā Iām getting them as theyāre ready.
If theyāre getting ready for a show, they donāt really want me in their in their hair as well. So I pinned up two backgrounds next to each other so I could switch, one to the other. Then the Melody Makerās got a choice of colours.
Those pictures have quite clear lighting, theyāre quite defined. Good for a cover, perhaps. But I was gagging for something in daylight. So, I said to Robert, can we meet tomorrow lunchtime? I get there at one or two oāclock, and the buggerās still in bed. It was in November, and it was getting dark. So, I thought I better go from street level up to the roof. And then Robert turns up and itās that classic kind of āTommy, do I really have to be here?ā kinda look. This kind of weathered, aged, āis this totally necessary?ā look. I always remember it, because it doesnāt look as dark as it was gettingā¦ or maybe it was just my sheer panic.
Eye contact is vital to make a photo work on the newsstand. Photo: Tom Sheehan
āGive us your eyesā: The Cure on tour in France, 1989
This was a swifty ā dive in and dive out. You canāt take a photograph of The Cure in their fatigues. You canāt do it until heās ready, in the sense of made up, ready to go. The eyes are on, the lips on, the hairās done. If they if theyāve got a gig coming, I have to be quite economical with the time because theyāre on stage in 30 minutes.
Robert is really good at connecting with the camera. He knows whatās required. Itās not like the [Melody] Maker was some sort of art magazine. You couldnāt have some enigmatic, looking-at-the-stars shot, because itād be too dark and the ink would fuck up. A lot of time it had to be quite clean.
When Melody Maker, along with the NME and Sounds and Record Mirror, was sitting with a multitude of other magazines on the news stand at Tottenham Court Road when you come out of the tube station, youāve got to be able to see those minces [mince pies, rhyming slang for eyes] on the other side of the road. Every time Iām working with a man, whoever Iām photographing, I say, give us your eyes. Unless you got eye contact, you canāt expect people to look at it the same way.
Sometimes when you look into the lens and look into their eyes, it is a bit of a staring competition. With Robert I think heās always been confident. I mean, God knows what he thinks about in his own time, but when heās working his confidence is great. Heās always appeared to be older than his years as well.
A big day out to Westbury White Horse with the Cure. Photo: Tom Sheehan
Robertās side hustle as a National Trust guide: The Cure in southwest England, 1995
This was a great day out. The band were done in the southwest recording [the album Wild Mood Swings] in that actressās house [Jane Seymourās house, St Catherineās Court in Somerset]. I came down when theyād been stuck in the studio for a couple of weeks, so Iām sure they wanted a distraction. In other words, taking the piss out of a mature lensman. So, off we went.
Robert was, and probably still is, a member of the National Trust. So he had it all worked out, where weāre were going. We got in a van and we just travelled around. We went to Cheddar Gorge and all round that area. Robert had made a few notes, so heād be looking at the map, and saying, āComing up isā¦ā
The horse doesnāt have any hidden meaning. Itās just the British countryside. But I like to think it confused a lot of people overseas, in Japan or whatever.
The Cure at Westside Studios. Photo: Tom Sheehan
Music icons: The Cure in Westside Studios, London, 2005
It was 2005, and The Cure were in Westside Studios recording. I was taking a picture of Robert with a copy of Bowieās ā¦Ziggy Stardustā¦ for series of portraits on music icons and the records that inspired them. I said to him, āletās get a couple of other portraits while weāre hereā. There was this spiral staircase outside, so we headed there. Robert said to me āyouāll do better getting me from aboveā¦ā and he was right. I like taking photos from above, you get a better line on peopleās jaw. Their faces look better.
I think Robert worked out his relationship between him and the camera. I mean, he got his whole thing together, didnāt he? With the hair and the lips and the clobber. If youāve got all that stuff around, you could confuse the viewer. So Iād always say, I still want the eyes. I want that contact.
The Cure: Pictures of You by Tom Sheehan, with a foreword by Robert Smith, is published November 3, 2022.
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