For decades the Pirelli calendar has been recognized for its high-gloss glamour and nearly naked models, but this year’s edition went an entirely different direction. The Italian tire company followed in the footsteps of Annie Leibovitz’s progressive 2016 issue, enlisting famed photographer Peter Lindbergh for “Emotional,” a raw and unretouched black-and-white series featuring 14 of Hollywood’s finest: Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlotte Rampling, Léa Seydoux, Uma Thurman, Alicia Vikander, Kate Winslet, Robin Wright and Zhang Ziyi. Even one non-actress—Anastasia Ignatova, a professor of political theory at the Moscow State University of International Relations—made an appearance in the zero post-production shoot.
“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,” Lindbergh said in a statement.
Only distributed to Pirelli’s clients, the iconic calendar is as exclusive as it is a testament to the cultural shift from heavily Photoshopped ads to makeup-free editorials as well as the growing acceptance of—by Hollywood standards—”older” models (Mirren is 71, Moore is 55, Kidman is 49, and so on). With minimal face paint and styling, we can definitely get behind this new definition of beautiful.
Homepage photo: Getty Images
Nicole Kidman
Julianne Moore
Uma Thurman
