A long photographic story of the aspirations of four women and their commitment to achieve their goals, each chasing dreams and passions. And this "Dreaming”, the 2019 Pirelli Calendar, now in its forty-sixth edition, shot by Albert Watson in April between Miami and New York and presented today in Milan at the Pirelli HangarBicocca.
A sequence of stills that tells the stories of characters played by Gigi Hadid flanked by Alexander Wang, Julia Garner, Misty Copeland with Calvin Royal III and Laetitia Casta together with Sergei Polunin. Forty color and black and white shots in 16:9 format inspired by Albert Watson's great passion for cinema.
"When I approached this project – explains Watson – I wanted to do it differently from other photographers and I asked myself what was the best way. In the end I looked for images that were of high quality, had depth and told stories. I wanted to do more than just portray people, I wanted to make it look more like cinematic 'still images'. I would like people looking at the Calendar to understand that my goal was to do pure photography, to explore the women I was photographing and to create a situation that proposed a positive vision of today's women”.
the same photographer, recounting the path that led him to create the Calendar, talks about his dreams, the commitment and sacrifices that these entail: “To make a dream come true, you have to work hard. I have always followed a gradual path reaching one goal at a time without wanting to jump right to the top of the ladder. Even if sometimes I think that this ladder can stretch indefinitely and the highest step go further away, I think it's always worth setting goals and dreams that are more and more ambitious every time”.
“Each of the four women – she continues – has an individuality of her own, her own specific purpose in life and her own way of doing things. And all are focused on their future. Therefore, the underlying theme is that of 'dreams', but the idea behind the entire project is the story through four 'small films'".
An example of this is the character played by Gigi Hadid. She recently separated from her partner, she lives alone in a glass tower and has Alexander Wang as her only friend and confidant: “I think there is a bit of melancholy in these images. With the character of Gigi Hadid I wanted to convey the perception of a woman who thinks about the futurebut also a sense of loneliness. We see her thinking about where she will go in life, what she will do tomorrow. I wanted her to be much more 'minimalist' than the other women I have photographed and their environments”.
Finally, Julia Garner plays a young photographer, a lover of nature and solitude. “Julia is a very, very accomplished actress and was able to get into her character perfectly. She played a botanical photographer, who dreams of making successful exhibitions. We shot in a beautiful tropical garden in Miami, which turned out to be a perfect place to work.”
Also Misty Copeland, who has Calvin Royal III as a partner in the Calendar, looks to the future dreaming of establishing itself in the dance world: “The pursuit of success is its driving force. Misty Copeland's character supports herself by dancing in a club, but at the same time she has set up a small stage in her garden where she practices dancing to become an étoile, sometimes with her boyfriend, played by Calvin Royal III ”.
Laetitia Casta is a painter who lives in a studio flat with her partner, played by Sergei Polunin. Both dream of success: she as an artist, he as a dancer. “The interesting thing – says Watson – is that Laetitia, in her spare time in her real life, dedicates herself to sculpture and creates art objects. A favorable coincidence that helped her get into character. We also decided to shoot outdoors to give the scene more natural brightness. Miami and its tropical nature are an essential component of the picture”.
