Female gaze in the 2023 Pirelli Calendar

Extraordinary, creative and conscious women are the protagonists of the Pirelli Calendar 2023, entitled Love Letters to the Muse and directed by Australian photographer and artist Emma Summerton. The 49th edition of The Cal pays homage to the feminine universe in its many facets and does so by rediscovering the etymological root of the word muse, "which referred to those who were talented in literature, the sciences and the arts, and could therefore be an example to others." The result "is a magical realism in which the boundary between the role the models play and what they really are is undefined." In the images that are anything but devoid of the sensual charge typical of the Pirelli calendar, female sensuality is celebrated in a myth-like imagery that confuses imagination with reality: the most celebrated faces of current modeling, who have made their success a tool to open conversations and give women tools for expression, are represented as 14 muses of a modern femininity, with no more cages and limits.  

Born in 1970, studied at the National Art School in Sydney, Emma Summerton is the fifth woman to sign the world's most famous calendar. Before her, in an attempt to break with the Cal tradition that has always depicted women predominantly as objects of male visual pleasure, there had been: Sarah Moon in 1972, Joyce Tenenson in 1989, Inez Van Lamsweerde (of the duo Inez and Vinoodh) 2007 Pirelli Calendar, and Annie Lebovitz in 2000 and 2016. Her bold creativity and technical precision have enabled her to establish herself as one of the most highly regarded photographers of her generation, famous for her works that mix fantasy and reality. It is the same dreamlike and magical, surreal, almost fantasy world, rich in color and imagination that she has recreated in the new shots in which it is easy to recognize the influence of Vali Myers and Leonora Carrington, but also of the dreamlike paintings of Mexican Remedios Varo and American Gertrude Abercrombie. 

"From the beginning of my journey with photography I have always been driven by who the Woman in my image is. Where does she come from? Where does she want to go? Who does she love? How does she love? What drives her? How does she imagine herself in the world? How does she become the imagination of herself? I first ask these questions of myself then project them out into the story I am trying to tell or the emotion I am hoping to convey. The intention is to inspire the viewer to open their mind and dream with me."

Helping Summerton with the shoots, between London and New York, was an almost exclusively female team including set designer Viki Rutsch, costume director Amanda Harlech (former muse of John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld), make-up artist Hiromi Euda, hair stylist Eugene Souleiman and casting director Piergiorgio Del Moro.

The 49th edition of The Cal pays homage to the feminine universe in its many facets and does so by rediscovering the etymological root of the word muse, "which referred to those who were talented in literature, the sciences and the arts, and could therefore be an example to others." The result "is a magical realism in which the line between the role the models play and what they really are is undefined." Thus Emily Ratajkowski, author of the book My Body, impersonates the Writer; Ashley Graham, who has always promoted Body Positivity, is the Activist; Karlie Kloss, founder of the Kode with Klossy scholarship program through which she teaches young women how to program, is the Tech Savant; Sasha Pivovarova, model and artist, is the Painter; Adwoa Aboah in an elegant pose reminiscent of Nefertiti becomes the Queen; Adut Akech is the Dream Catcher who embodies the poetic story of her life of redemption; Bella Hadid is the Sprite; Lila Moss is the Seer; Lauren Wasser with a gladiator look is the Athlete; Guinevere van Seenus is the muse Photographer; Cara Delevingne is the Performer; Precious Lee, the Storyteller; Kaya Wilkins, the Musician; He Cong, the Sage.