Squaring The Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis
Written by Matt   
Tuesday, 06 September 2022

Just given an airing at the Rodeo Screening Room in Los Angeles, California, on August 24th as part of the Telluride Film Festival, is a new documentary from celebrated photographer, creative director and filmmaker Anton Corbijn. Squaring The Circle: The Story Of Hipgnosis, which is 101 minutes long, tells the story of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey 'Po' Powell, the creative geniuses behind the iconic album art design studio, Hipgnosis, responsible for some of the most recognisable album covers of all time. They formed Hipgnosis in Cambridge during the ferment of the sixties and became rock royalty during the boom time of the seventies. They conjured into existence sights that no one had previously thought possible, produced visuals which popularised music that had previously been considered fringe, and were at the white-hot centre of the maddest, funniest and most creative era in the history of popular music.

During this period, record companies didn’t dictate to acts like Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Paul McCartney what their LP covers should look like - Storm and Po did. They made money; they lost money. They did great things; they did silly things. They fell out bitterly; they made up. They never played a note, but they changed music. The film features brand new interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour & Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Noel Gallagher, and many more.

As yet we don't have details of any upcoming screenings, or streaming possibilities, although we suspect such information will be available soon. In the meantime, here's a quick look at part of the documentary, with Storm, Po, David, Roger and Nick all talking about the cover to Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother:

SQUARING THE CIRCLE (the story of hipgnosis) | Clip | Anton Corbijn | Raindog Films from Raindog Films on Vimeo.