While Amy Schumer as well as Serena Williams stripped down to underwear, Annie Leibovitz posed topless for 2016 Pirelli Calender. However, for Pirelli 2017 Calendar, Peter Lindbergh undertook more challenging task of laying bare the souls of Uma Thurman to Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and the likes in his “Emotional” Hollywood-themed calendar.
With an intention to ‘convey personality, sensitivity and the guts to be yourself’, German photographer Peter Lindbergh explained that his aim was “not shoot a calendar about perfect bodies but to capture sensitivity and emotion, laying bare the souls of the women in the images, rendering them more naked than a nude.”
The star-studded, 44th edition of Pirelli’s Calender includes A-list actresses like Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlotte Rampling, Lea Seydoux, Uma Thurman, Alicia Vikander, Kate Winslet, Robin Wright, and Zhang Ziyi.
Excelling at being naked while fully clothed, Uma Thurman, said if felt “like an interview, but with a camera” while for Penelope Cruz it was “almost like seeing into your soul.” Lindbergh explained, “I wanted to show women in a different way: I did this by asking actresses who have always played an important role in my life and to try and get as close to them as possible through my photos. As an artist, I feel I have a responsibility to free women from the idea of eternal youth and perfection. Society’s ideal of perfection is impossible to achieve.”
Shot in five locations across Berlin, Los Angeles, New York, London and the French beach of Le Touquet, the latest Pirelli calendar celebrates Lindbergh as the first in the industry to have shot three editions of the coveted calendar.
