People have asked why Björk is never included in the videos I have been posting here, except when she is singing.
Well now.
Tonight Chris Corsano, with Virginia Genta, gave an astounding performance on the roof of the Galeria Ze dos Bois here in Lisbon. Many of us were there and I loved every minute of it.
Immediately afterwards Björk had to leave, and as I’m a bit tired after the long flight yesterday, I decided to share a taxi with her. During the time it took us to find a cab at least three persons tried to photograph her.
Björk doesn’t like that.
Why should I play a paparazzi on the tour?
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August 5th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Yep - fair enough. It must be maddening for her.
I’ve been following this blog from the beginning, and I’m a bit sad to see that the tour (and therefore the blog presumably) is drawing to a close. I’d like to say a big THANKS to you Jónas, for taking the time to keep us interested folks informed and showing us a bit of what life is like on the road with Björk.
Many, many thanks!
Evan (from NZ)
August 6th, 2008 at 12:21 am
I guess I can see it from both sides….On the one hand, she has two lives. One life is on stage where she agrees to and expects photographs. The other life is who she really is and it is that self that she wants to keep just for her.
So I guess what people are interested in are photographs/videos even backstage to see her in sort of an in between light where she is still her but in a professional setting. It is the her that you see but we don’t get to see yet are still interested in. That to me is not being a paparazzi but just being Jonas doing what you do which is taking videos of everything during the Bjork tour and sharing those memories with us. If your objective is to capture these moments in time but you are making a conscious effort to avoid filming her, you are presenting a compromised view of your art which I think it rubbish. Film her. You just might be surprised at what you get! Ask her and see what she says.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:38 am
I’m actually offended by your comment. I would never expect you to invade her privacy as a friend for our enjoyment. We weren’t asking you to snap her in her most private details… We just wanted an honest answer to a curious question. I love to see videos of everyone from the tour, because you ALL make up the Volta Tour, without all of you it’d be nothing. We don’t expect to see her and her only, and that would be absurd to expect that. But to have the biggest part of the show, not show up anywhere for behind the scenes is just kind of reclusive to me, I suppose.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:35 am
What Jonas gives us in this blog is rarer than anything you would ever normally get to see about a tour. You actually get a sense of what it would be like to be touring. The videos and blogs he posts are just perfect!
August 6th, 2008 at 9:22 am
That’s totally fair and right!
I didn’t took a camera to the Melt-festival, because I just wanted to enjoy the Björk-concert and everybody take phtos, why should I take some, too????
I can understand Björk.
I wish a wonderful week!
August 6th, 2008 at 10:10 am
” During the time it took us to find a cab at least three persons tried to photograph her.
Björk doesn’t like that.
Why should I play a paparazzi on the tour? ”
Well, you answered my question.
Of course, as said Foot Soldier, our curiosity wasn’t paparazzi-like. Personaly, i’m quite curious about the way Björk lives the tour. About how thrilling and how harrassing it may be. About how she receives the energy of the crowd. About how she battled with voice problems. About how she feeled each concert. About what new musical ideas this tour has given to her… I think we don’t care about what she eats, when she goes to the toilet before the show, how she deals with her daughter and her husband, if they got angry etc…
So I still think that including her in the videos could not be considered as “paparazzi”, as she is the main character of this hole story. But i think she has so much things to take on as the main character…
But your answer is more than relevant. We all know that she hates that, and we all respect this, i think. So i think you did very well by not filming her, and i would have done the same in your position.
Thank you for answering!
August 6th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
thats something that makes me sad about people…
they are more interested in documenting the moment for later than they are in enjoying & LIVING the moment now!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Hi Jonas!
Hope you enjoy your days in Portugal! Tomorrow I will be at the Gig, be prepared… its an huge isolated farm but with a cool environment. Hoping to ear “Unison” and “Where is The Line?”. Will Diabaté play Hope?? Enjoy!!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
When you are a popstar, you don’t usually pass unperceived. So you have to deal with people phtographing you.
I saw a video last year after the Rock en Seine festival in Paris Saint-Cloud. She was on her way with Ragga to the station, and 2 paparazzis were filming her ; Ragga got angry and Bjork as well as she knocked one of the paparazzis.
In Brazil, she was on her bycicle and someone took her with a mobile phone and she did a fuck to the camera.
That’s what happens when you’re a popstar ! Take it or leave it ! Even Madonna when she goes for a jogging in the street is stalked by paparazzis - but after you should not go beyond some limits especially when Bjork is with Isadora and M.Barney.
Finally, if someone asks her an autograph … come on Jonas, it wouldn’t be the end of the world !
August 6th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
My god, Romain, Björk is a human/musician, not a popstar!!! >:(
August 7th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Exactly. Most entries here on the blog have been about Björk anyway, so the fact that she is not on the few videos and photos I have posted is, in Romain’s terms, not the end of the world.
Or is it?
August 7th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Not a bit. It’s cool enought that you have a blog, but sadly most of the fans want more and more….
But thank you very much for reading the comments and for giving a statement!
I’m 13 and I think exactly the same, that means a lot to me that you write so much and that you give your statements in “important” things where people have to understand that you are all humans like we all are!!
Gracias from germany!!! ;O)
August 7th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Definitely not the end of the world God knows. I have to admit though, the video that you took prior to one of the shows where we could see Bjork giving direction and just being herself before she took the stage was probably one of my favorites. I could care less what toothpaste she uses or what pet names she calls her kid, I just think it is interesting to see someone that I admire and respect in a more intimate setting than what the other 6 billion people watching a concert see. I could say that about anyone though….even my boss. It is called bonding. Humans are interested in other humans and when we find one that we can relate to, there is a natural instinct to know more about them. She interviewed Arvo Part because she had an interest in him.
Concerts could be compared to a business setting. It is the “show” that we in the business world put on so that things can get done. It is not the real us but the business us. We pick and choose who at work we want to socialize with but there are people that we are interested to get to know outside of the work setting. Concerts are like the work setting and videos of Bjork outside that environment are like going out after work to have a drink….does that make sense to anyone? ……oh well. That is how I feel anyway. Maybe Bjork wants to be like this one guy I work with. Everytime anyone asks him to join for a get together, he says, “Hell no….I see you people so much during the 70 hours of work I put in I have absolutely no desire to see you outside of work.” This has made some people feel bad and made him a not so popular character but perhaps he likes it that way.
Why don’t you ask her and see what she says. I always believe in getting a straight answer. I bet she would not mind a few photos/videos as long as you did not infringe on her personal space…who knows though.
Kayleigh
August 7th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Thank you Jonas, your blog has been great!
August 7th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
When I say Bjork is a “popstar”, i.e. she became a popstar after Cannes 2000 film festival. Why ? Because the movie was great and because she successed where her mates singers-actresses (Madonna for instance), failed.
Now, everywhere she goes, we have candid pics of her (on a website I won’t mention), her friends, her family (Isadora and so on), etc …
That’s why I say you should not go beyond some limits. There are a lot of pics with Bjork in NY having a chat with unknown people. People have a bad image of Bjork as a violent woman on drugs (the Bangkok and New Zealand incidents w/ journalists) and one have to go further than that.
As I said before, asking for an autograph isn’t the end of the world, doesn’t it Jonas ? You have made a worldtour since April 2007, you should have met a lot of people/fans , call them as you like, …
Romain
August 7th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
@Romain:
Why do you want more pics of Björk when there are hundreds of pics out there, like you said?? You are strange.
JÓNAS DOESN’T WANT TO TAKE PICS OF HER AND YOU MUST ACCEPT THIS!!!
Aren’t you satisfied with her music? I am. Totally.
You said that theres a site where stalkers shows pics of Björks private live??? That’s very very bad!! That’s not normal anymore! Why don’t you want to tell us the site, we could let the site close!!
August 7th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Calm down, baby … you didn’t understand a word about my argueing.
Anyway !
Long live Volta, long live Jonas … bed and breakfast
Romain
August 7th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I totally agree with both posts of lavacoolsme, specially with: “the video that you took prior to one of the shows where we could see Bjork giving direction and just being herself before she took the stage was probably one of my favorites.”—> but that´s because I love backstages and to see how a show is build, how it was prepared or planed…
Sorry about my english…
Great blog Jonas! Thx!
August 7th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Why was my first comment taken down? Okay…whatever. All I said was I was a curious cat… never asked for anyone to “take pictures” of Björk. Just wondering why she was never in the videos. Damn, my bad…too much drama here. It just goes to show how much she tries to avoid her fans. Wonder why she even bothers. And it does make me think she is a violent woman on drugs…bye!!!!!!!!!
August 7th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Oh my god! xD
I don’t care about pics, be happy that Björk do concerts and I don’t have more to say!
And she’s no fucking popstar!
Gracias
August 7th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Björk as you said is a person albeit an amazingly talented and lovely one we know she likes her privacy and we should respect that. As fun it would be to take a famous vacation it would get grating especially with the vampire paparazzi these days. I will be honest and love seeing her great wardrobe in candid shots, I think as fans we know how she feels and act wisely.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Wow, you really opened a can of worms here with this blog post! Where does the expression “open a can of worms” come from? Maybe that’s less controversial. Anyhow, I digress…
Björk isn’t the only human in the world to prefer not to have her private life exploited. In this day and age where celebrityism is a rampant disease, you have to respect Björk and her freedom to live life in a private, creative space. And yes, the moments in between performances may make for some of the most beautiful, iconic images but the lack of these images makes her that much more iconic and gives Björk that much more mystique. More importantly it gives her space to be creative and make the beautiful music that we all love.
Some cultures have the belief that a photograph can steal your soul, as the eyes are the window to the soul. I am a photographer and don’t believe I am a soul thief and love capturing moments of inspiration and beauty. But some of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had I left my camera in my pocket making a visual photograph with my eyes and mind to be filed away in my heart and felt again often.
There is a big difference in capturing beauty and the paparazzi feeding celebrity culture in toxic tabloids. True photography is a connection. An intimate moment shared between the subject & photographer. Are Björk’s album covers and videos not some of the most exquisite artwork you’ve ever seen? Be thankful she has offered that without expecting anything else and that Jonas’s mental photographs described eloquently in this tour blog have offered us a glimpse into the tour’s soul.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
I think the next 50 postings should be about what a cool video Jonas posted and how cute he was playing the horn!
August 8th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
French horn ? French horny ? LOL
(Sorry just came back from work)
Romain
Cannes, France
August 8th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
August 10th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
How was Zaragoza? It woud be good to hear from your journey to Spain
August 11th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Thankyou for everything Jónas! You made this tour the best ever! What’s next for you?
August 12th, 2008 at 1:51 am
I agree with Jen. Thank you for giving us a inside perspective on tour. Not only were your stories great, but your writing style made those stories come alive.
Take care and have loads of fun at your last show.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
lavacoolsme: I completly agrre with you !! Much fun Jónas !! ;O)-<