Peter Lindbergh says shooting the 2017 Pirelli Calendar featuring Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong’o and Dame Helen Mirren was 'an incredible challenge'.
The celebrated German photographer has produced this year’s Pirelli Calendar, the forty-fourth edition since it was first launched in 1964. He previously produced the 1996 and 2002 calendars, making him the first photographer to create the calendar for a third time.
He said: “[I wanted] to create a calendar not around perfect bodies but on sensitivity and emotion.
"Stripping down to the very soul of the sitters, who thus become more nude than naked.”
The photographer said his aim for the latest edition was to show individuality and beauty in its truest sense.
He added: “In a time when women are represented in the media and everywhere 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, a beauty which speaks about individuality, courage to be yourself and your own private sensibility.”
Lindbergh set out to feature the 'best actresses in the world' as he shot Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Dame Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, and Lupita Nyong’o.
Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore said: "I walk in with no make-up on and wet hair, and he said 'no, no, no, no - you're perfect.'"
Charlotte Rampling, Lea Seydoux, Uma Thurman, Alicia Vikander, Kate Winslet, Robin Wright and Zhang Ziyi also feature in the 2017 calendar.
Watch the video above for a behind the scenes look inside the shoots, as Dame Helen Mirren explains what it was like to work with Lindbergh.
