The 2003 Pirelli Calendar
Presented to the public today in London, the Pirelli Calendar for 2003 was photographed in Italy by the famous American photographer and director Bruce Weber. The magnificent Cilento coast and the ruins of the ancient city of Paestum provide the backdrops for the splendid models - 15 girls and 8 men. The calendar is an ode to freedom, a celebration of the joy of life, an acclamation of unspoilt nature.
London, 4th November 2002 - The 2003 Pirelli Calendar is launched today, in spectacular style, at the Natural History Museum in London to press, to collectors and to enthusiasts from all over the world. Now in its thirty-fifth year, the Pirelli Calendar is one of the most eagerly awaited happenings in the world of photography, fashion and beauty, as always an exclusive coming-together of art and seduction. The internationally renowned American photographer and director Bruce Weber shot the 2003 calendar in Italy (as did Mario Testino two years ago) which took over six days on the glorious Cilento coast, south of Amalfi. Various locations were chosen between Santa Maria di Castellabate and Punta Licosa, also known as " Sirens Promontory" , a name inspired by the Homeric legend of the three mermaids, Leucosia, Ligea and Partenope, who seduced sailors with their wonderful singing, luring them onto the rocks.
After six years without any Italian beauties - the last being Monica Bellucci in 1997 - the Pirelli Calendar 2003 boasts three splendid Italian models: Mariacarla Boscono, Eva Riccobono and Valentina Stilla. Along with them are some of the most celebrated top models from throughout the world: Sophie Dahl, Yamila Diaz-Rahi, Isabeli Fontana, Bridget Hall, Heidi Klum, Karolina Kurkova, Natalia Vodianova, Sienna Rose Miller, Lisa Seiffert. And, as is now traditional, there are also some up-and-coming faces, such as Filippa Hamilton, Jessica Miller and Rania Raslan.
Likewise, the male models include well-established actors, such as Alessandro Gassman, Enrico Lo Verso and Stephane Ferrara, alongside sportsman Richie La Montagne (American middleweight boxer), as well as rising stars in the fashion world, including Marcelo Boldrini, Tomasino Ganesh, Jak Krauszer and Ajay Lamas.
Moreover, the Pirelli Calendar has an artistic and cultural appeal that goes far beyond the world of fashion and glamour. For many years now, the Pirelli Calendar has been expressing - indeed frequently anticipating - new social trends, particularly the role and image of women in modern society. And this is probably one of the principal ingredients in the calendar's ongoing success.
The first calendar of the new millennium, with the city of Naples as its backdrop, invited us to rediscover our historical heritage and authentic Neapolitan values. And the 2003 edition continues in this path, returning to the Campania region, where the Cilento coast combines superb natural scenery and fascinating classical history. The true protagonist, however, remains the female personality in its entirety, photographed against an enchanting, unspoilt natural background, the columns of the Temple of Hera at Paestum (Posidonia), or the interiors of Palazzo Belmonte, the historic 17th century home of the Princes Granito Pignatelli, that dominates the charming fishing village of Santa Maria di Castellabate.
" What I have always loved about Italy is that she is like a mistress: you can't live with her, but you can't live without her" , says Bruce Weber. " When Pirelli first asked me to photograph the calendar this time, I decided that I didn't want too many concepts, I wanted to experience Italy again like I did when I first came with the kids from school. I wanted to see Italy again as a child. I think there is something really beautiful when you see a sense of freedom in a person, a freedom of expression, and a freedom at being a wild child again..
" When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, every Monday night the town nearest to me showed Italian films. I've always loved boxers; one of my favourite films is a Visconti film called 'Rocco and his Brothers', they go into a boxing gym a lot; so that's why the great actor from France, Stephane Ferrara is here, and Richie La Montagne, who is a Middleweight Champion in America. We chose Alessandro Gassman because he is a great young actor and follows a great heritage of acting in Italy. I learnt about sex, about love, about passion, about anger, about craziness, about fantasy - I learnt that all from Italian movies, and I think about them a lot when I am taking photographs. The calendar has a cinematic feel about it, like a scene from a great story, a great emotion or a great moment in someone's life. Each photograph tells a whole story and provokes an emotional reaction to it; I want to kiss her, I love her, she's fabulous, how beautiful" .
" I wanted to pick those kinds of girls that people have a fantasy about, a fantasy about knowing them. I keep seeing all these women looking at the Pirelli calendar and I think it would be really nice for women and men to be able to look at the calendar and see a guy once in a while. It is a modern theme today - men love women; women love men" .
Once the photography was complete, the long and complex job began of selecting the photos and designing the layout of the calendar - this year the calendar has a true wealth of pictures. The 2003 calendar includes both six-colour and black-and-white photos, with two pictures for each month. The first series of female portraits is accompanied by a second series (on the back) of pictures including also the men. The twelve traditional calendar pages are also interspersed, every three months, by a collage of every-day life photos, taken in the streets and among the people of Castellabate.
This last series is completed by three splendid " still-life" photos of the locations used for the 2003 calendar, pictures that Weber dedicated to his late sister Barbara Dewitt " because all her life she ate, lived and loved like an Italian" . Barbara used to spend her yearly holidays on the isle of Capri, where she was made an honorary citizen. The final result is one the most beautiful calendars ever produced by Pirelli: an extraordinary combination of photographs to be read as a single, natural sequence. A truly unique creation that is the Pirelli Calendar 2003.