Look Twice

27 Sep 201221
From the earliest Dublin photo shoots to the remotest desert and the stadiums of U2360, the camera has been stealing images of U2 for thirty five years. Some of the best - and rarest - are hanging in our U2.com photo galleries.

Take a browse - click the drop-down menu to choose a time or place - and tell us what you see in one of these shots. 



An image that surprises you? 
A tour you'd forgotten about?
A style that you imitated?
A look that made you look... twice?

In the comments below, tell us what you see when you look back at some of the images in our  galleries. (We may have some prizes for the best answers...)

Comments
21
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musicabona
Beneath a desert sky
The photos for "The Joshua Tree" album cover still mean much to me, because those songs made me fall in love with U2 23 years ago. When I took my vinyl record out of the sleeve in order to put it on my turntable I often looked at the black and white photograph, amazed by its simplicity and ingenuity. This image took me to "God´s Country" a mystical place, a wide open terrain of desert landscapes I have never seen before. This shot gave me the first impression of the bandmembers´look-four earnest young men exploring their musical roots, surrounded by a dramatic panorama of mountains. The more I listened to the music the more I realised the deeper meaning behind that image, with a lonesome Joshua Tree symbolizing life under hard conditions, growing high despite an arid ground. This timeless photograph just perfectly relates to the emotional depth and intensity of those epic pieces.
august66
Flat top
Larrywhit t shirt bikers jacket unforgettable fire era ,THE look.Even took a picture of larry to my hairdresser and said do that to my hair.
saarjoe
The world knows U2
The fascinating thing about U2 is the fact that to this day I still have to meet one person that does not like their music. It seems like wherever I go I hear U2 on the radio or catch someone listening to them on the mp3 player. When talking to people about music it never takes long for one to mention U2. The music, the concerts and the causes the band stands for - all that makes up U2. Being a fan of the band since seeing them in August of 1983 at the Rockpalast festival at the Loreley I am glad that I stayed on for the ride the band took. They kept developing and reinventing their sound - another fact that separates them from most other bands. My thanks to Larry for getting them together, to Adam for keeping the rhythm going, to Edge for being restless in finding the perfect guitar sound, and to Bono for constantly pushing whats on his mind! THANKS U2!
aramsalinas
Lifetime doing
What awesome is as teenage to have a good crazy idea, to have friends who share it, that support you, that work hard for and to persevere it to achieve that dream of a lifetime doing, doing what you love most. Remarkable BAND is U2 !
Lucillia
A person who inspired me
I'm writing on behalf of my sister .She is a U2 fan since the begging of the band; when here in Brazil she had only one TV channel where she could watch every Saturday a U2 clip. She used to wait the all week to watch a single clip. This was back in 1985, I was born in June/1985. U2 was becoming more famous and she could watch more frequently the clips on the tv and listen to the music in the radio. In 1998 she had the opportunity of her life to watch for the first time a U2 Concert. It was PopMart tour. By this time I was 13 years old and I started to like U2 ( because of her). I was growing up listening to her dreams to go one day to Dublin to see the city where U2 was born. In 2006 I spent 14 hours in the line to by the tickets to U2 concert. We went together in the 2 concerts in Sao Paulo. For the first time I saw my sister so so happy. She really loved U2. In 2011 we had another opportunity to watch U2. This time I've been to 2 concerts and she had been to 1. Again she was feeling incredible happy to be there. This was in April. 3 moths later I moved to London to study and she went to visit me in April; we spent 3 weeks together and finally she realized her dream to visit Dublin. We had 4 nights going to pub after pub and asking them to play U2 songs. She really had a good time. 1 week after she went Back to Brazil and she passed away. So, that's why I think U2 is a memory of my sister to me. She was increadibly crazy by them and she knew every song. So, now every time I hear a U2 song I remenber a moment of her....
Noreil
The fifth man
I wish I could be Anton, from the beginning…
Noreil
An other group
The War Tour, Red Rocks. This is the year of my birth. During my first cry they were already singing on a stage ! When I look back this red photo with the public under the rain, I can't realize this is the same band I saw during the 360 tour. What a chance for me to meet them for real. All this time, a life ! And U2 is still here, the same and so different.
u2liker
Vertigo
When I was 12 years, I was in the house of a friend. We played football in the garden and then went inside, his dad was watching an concert from the vertigo tour. It was the first i heard Bono's voice, adam's bass, edge's guitar, and larry's drum. I was struck, I had never seen a band with such a performance. I asked the DVD and watched it home on the computer, I was just awestruck. When I look at the pictures from the vertigo tour, it remembers me in a great way at the the discovery of U2. Now i've watched all your pictures, listened all you music and I loved it. You started such a long time go, but i still have the feeling I have lived all trough by the pictures and music. Now I can't stop listening to you guys and because of the edge and his wonderful tunes, I try to play guitar.
zoram
Torhout/Werchter 1982
U2 played at the festival ground of Torhout the first day. Bono did it so loud that the second day he lost his voice for the second show in werchter. There is a legent in belgium that another singer (walter grootaers) of "de kreuners" give him something to drink so he could preform that day. Also in that weekend bono drunk a little to much backstage with Jim Kerr. that was on belgium national television. But the shows were perfect!!!
u2vibe4ever
Oh, those wonderful days!!!
Looking thru I always come back to the third from the last photo in the early days gallery ( the drinkers). Can't look at it without thinking of the rebellious, breaking out time in a teenager's life. That photo could easily have been taken of our "guys". I feel those feelings of the GLORY days come bubbling back up. Wonderful, intense feelings of love, independence, hope and the future unfolding. Can't go a single day without relating to a song from U2. They have and always will be my touch stone. My husband laughs when I constantly quote their lyrics as if they were prayers. When I play their music or hear them (no matter where-even in a store) I'll whisper "my guys". Something inside, so intimate. I'll love them forever for bringing such intensity to every raw emotion a human spirit can experience!! Thanks boys:)
pepette
Throught a pint....
My favorite is the 9th of "The Joshua Tree in 1987" album. It's fun cause it looks like we're looking them throught a pint of Guinness in the drinking!!! And apparently this pint belongs to Bono ;o)
Val1
Tribute to Ronnie Drew Photos
The photos of the tribute performance on the Late Late show celebrating the musician Ronnie Drew, reminded me of what not initially attracted me to U2, but what made me fall in love with them. Friendship, loyalty, respect, generosity, love of music, poetry and tradition, these are just a few of the qualities that make U2 such an important part of not only my life, but the lives of people all over the world. Thank you, U2.
epereyra82
One but not the same
Together they are one, but each one has his own personality, they can see to different ways but at the end the move in the same direction
nataliecole
Paul Bhoy
following this band for thirty years now , seen many many photos ,but the middle photo says " been in the band thirty odd years , been at top of our game all the way , so we dont need to pose , it just comes naturally to us because we are the best and always will be " and thats what U2 will always mean to me . God Bless U2
nkokic
My life with U2
I see my life through these galeries.. Thank you for being here! Natasa
PauloSilva
i love the desert
for me the u2 fotos of the joshua tree its the best allways...i have a tatto of the joshua tree because i love that,,the desert..the tree fall down but u2 never end..love from portugal...u2 u2 u2 until we die
Vicktor
Desert Sky
The cover photo of The Joshua Tree is definitely The essence of U2, the identity of the band, anywhere that you certainly will know who are in this picture, even if the band does not know the background. Among so many photos, the real face of U2 is not in images, is marked in the hearts of all the people who listen to the sound of four boys from Dublin penetrating the whole spirit of true rock.
KittyCatClaudine
Baby Faces!!
How sweet are those young mugs? They seriously went Out of Control & I am Thankful!! Thanks, Boys No Line on the Horizon Thanks, Men.
septiembrepro
Star Wars
In the first one picture (from below to up) the mood is very sci-fi... even, there was George Lucas in the corner. They look happy and that's the secret of their succes. They still are those 4 boys from Dublin trying to rock the world!!!
NanyandGonzo
Meeting you!
For a girl who got to know you in Beautiful Day and who has been a true fan since 2010 it has been awesome to discover them in their beginnings!!! Great photos, strange look --actually I was born in 1978 so it makes me have a good laugh every time I see them wearing those clothes. A fan of the black and white photos, for me they look great. My favourite, I guess all of them, they show a special moment in their careers and a little bit of their music and songs, so, it's good to have somewhere where to see these rarities. Obviously some of them appear in U2 by U2 and in Anton's book so, I'm happy I have them--you--at home...
maarten
desert
those wonderful desert pictures during JT made me really want to go to US.. This summer I finally got there and I felt U2 in a way. My favourite band came even closer and it was wonderful! I took a visit in the Joshua Tree National Park and tried to find that epic tree. Couldn't find it though but anyway. Me, as a 16 year old, being in that park gave me such an amazing feeling. The band was there, so many years ago, amazed, just like me about the beautiful nature. One of the most special moments in my life, couldn't let go of the Joshua Tree after it and during the long drives on the empty highways I was playing the album over and over again! Thanks U2!
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