BY KRISTINA RODULFO
They strip away the Hollywood glamour in front of Peter Lindbergh’s lens
Renowned photographer Peter Lindbergh is not interested in celebrities’ roles as “ambassadors of perfection and youth.” Vocal against retouching, he captured Hollywood royalty in raw, just-woke-up reality for the 2017 Pirelli Calendar, launched today in Paris. Titled “Emotional,” it features 40 images of 14 award-winning actresses: 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.
Lindbergh and Julianne Moore shooting The Cal 2017.
Photographing them in black and white and barely in any makeup or styling, Lindbergh hopes to “remind everyone that there’s a beauty that’s more real and truthful and not manipulated by commercial or any other interests,” he said at a press conference yesterday. “Beauty speaks about individuality, courage to be yourself, and your very own sensibility–that’s my definition of a woman today,” he continued, “That’s the goal of the calendar–to the show the woman. And not this stretched, manipulated, emptied [person] you see in the magazines today.” 
“I think Peter’s mission with everyone involved wanting to free women from oppressive and false standards is fantastic,” Uma Thurman added at a press conference this morning. The calendar notably features actresses who, by Hollywood standards, are “older”–Charlotte Rampling is 70 and Helen Mirren is 71, Julianne Moore is 55 and Robin Wright is 50, Nicole Kidman is 49–and the photos show their age proudly. Fine lines are in focus. Kate Winslet, 41, even asked Lindbergh to capture the backs of her hands specifically.
Since launching in 1964, the calendar was previously known to feature supermodels or celebrities with sexuality on full display (in lingerie, or more often, naked). Last year, Annie Liebovitz took a bold departure by featuring portraits of accomplished artists, writers, filmmakers, and philanthropists instead (Ava DuVernay, Yoko Ono, and Serena Williams were among those in the 2016 calendar). Lindbergh, who previously shot for Pirelli in 1996, 2002, and along with Patrick Demarchelier, in 2014 for the Cal’s 50th anniversary, continues the new direction with this year’s stripped-down theme. When your subjects are “used to facade,” he asks, “How do you get the soul to shine through?”
One other inclusion in the calendar worth mentioning is Anastasia Ignatova, a lecturer at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Lindbergh met her at a dinner in 2015 and, struck by her beauty, promised her he’d include her in the next Pirelli calendar if ever he got to shoot one again.
Like previous years, the collector’s item is only available to Pirelli’s top clients and VIPs. We do have a preview of the breathtaking photos, however, ahead:
Nicole Kidman, January
Robin Wright, April
Julianne Moore, September/October
Uma Thurman, October/November
This article originally appeared on www.elleuk.com
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