Amateur Photographer Magazine

The Complete Pirelli Calendars

Saturday 16th August 2008

Text by Edmondo Berselli

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When the first Pirelli Calendars came out in the early 1960s, we all wanted to be fashion photographers. OK, our motives weren't always about the photography, but what the heck, Pirelli got us all stirred up one way or another. So, the Italian tyre company has done more for calendars and glamorous fashion shoots than anyone else in the past 40 years.

At the time, the early calendar girls were seen as raunchy, riotous, revealing young things who had photographers‚ film speeds racing to new heights. Looking back, most of the pictures are pretty tame compared with today's glamour shoots. What Pirelli gave us, though, was Glamour with a capital G in exotic locations that didn't feature in the usual holiday brochures. It was all posh totty in fantasyland, which worked a treat by using the top photographers of the time, including hot snappers Richard Avedon, Mario Testino, Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber and Annie Leibovitz.

Every calendar and picture from 1964 to 2007 is included in this tome of a book, which contains iconic images of the world's most beautiful women that are not to be missed.

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