Until last year, the Pirelli calendar was famed for its glossy images of half-naked models and felt – let’s face it – like a bit of a throwback. Then, for 2016’s edition, Annie Leibowitz shot a selection of ‘strong’ (and, in the main, clothed) women, featuring the likes of athlete Serena Williams, comedian Amy Schumer, model Natalia Vodianova and director Ava DuVernay.
And in another departure from the standard Pirelli template, not a single image from 2017’s calendar – which was shot by legendary photographer Peter Lindbergh – has been retouched.
The 2017 edition presents images of 14 world-class actresses, including Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman, Helen Mirren and Lupita Nyong’o, all of whom were encouraged to wear minimal make-up on the shoot.
Rooney Mara, Jessica Chastain, Charlotte Rampling, Alicia Vikander, Robin Wright, Léa Seydoux and Zhang Ziyi are also featured, while a less familiar face is that of Anastasia Ignatova, a professor of Political Theory at Moscow State University of International Relations.
Many of these actresses are older than the ‘Hollywood ideal’ – Mirren is 71, Rampling is 70 and Moore is 55 – and Lindbergh’s images have already been lauded for their minimal, stripped-back beauty.
‘We are used to such spectacular images, aren’t we?’ Mirren said, discussing her portrait (which appears on the November pages of the calendar). ‘Here, we’re going away from that – let’s find the amazing in something that’s human and real.’
Speaking at a press conference in Paris, the photographer revealed that his aim for the calendar was to ‘capture sensitivity and emotion, laying bare the souls of the women in the images, rendering them more naked than a nude.’
‘In the time when women are represented in the media, in every way else, as ambassadors of perfection and youth, I thought it was important to remind everyone that there is a different beauty, more real and truthful, and not manipulated by commercial or any other interests,’ he said. ‘Beauty that speaks about individuality, courage to be yourself, and your very own sensibility – that’s my definition of a woman today.’
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