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Pirelli Calendar 2013 - Steve McCurry...opinions?
I don't think anybody would argue his talent or his history of making amazing images. What I saw hear were gorgeous models and beautiful images. What I didn't see was anything remotely attributable to the Pirelli Calendar. If this was shot for National Geographic or Conde Naste I would say great. But, cmon, even though it's the Pirelli Calendar, and it's taken on a fame of its own, it's still a calendar. Can we superimpose Mario Sorrenti's 2012 images onto the 2013 calendar? Nov 28 12 07:55 am Link DennisRoliffPhotography wrote: Laughed so hard when I saw that. Yes, even the legendary Steve McCurry. Nov 28 12 07:58 am Link S W I N S K E Y wrote: ... and McCurry ?? Nov 28 12 09:49 am Link Beautiful images. Maybe Perelli management realized that a changeup was needed: when you've been doing the same theme for a lot of years... I suspect that they are aware of an change in their market (more women customers) and the increased scrutiny worldwide on treating women in a more balanced way. Nov 28 12 11:38 am Link -JAY- wrote: been here for quite some time. Best place in the world Nov 28 12 12:07 pm Link S W I N S K E Y wrote: Exactly!! Nov 28 12 12:08 pm Link Interesting to see the opinions. Personally, I think they're ghastly. Or perhaps just disappointing. They're not bad at all. They look like something out of a Joe McNally tutorial video but with poorly dressed supermodels in place of random folks with character. McCurry is a legend. But honestly this doesn't even look like he took the photos to me. I feel like anyone could've taken these (assuming an appropriate skill level). It's not his genre, or typical for Pirelli, but it could've been so much more. Nov 28 12 06:02 pm Link As a body of portrait work I think the images are really special... HOWEVER... & this is a big however... I find this to be an anti climax for a Pirelli Calendar. Its got nothing to do with nudity or lack of it... its more to do with the sensuality that the Calendar has embodied for the last 5 decades. I respect Steve's work but this is a huge miscalculation by Pirelli for going in this direction ... Its like National Geographic suddenly deciding that they are going to change things up & start shooting Maxim style content for their publication... It just doesn't fit the branding! I still think Demarchelier's 2005 along with Mert & Marcus' 2006 Calendars were some of the best! Classically beautiful & simple. Nov 28 12 06:49 pm Link 2006 Pirelli Calendar with Jennifer Lopez .. Giselle Bundchen .. Guinevere Van Seenus .. Dean Johnson .. Karen Elson .. Natalia Vodianova..    Nov 28 12 06:54 pm Link Karl's Mythology was epic and opulent. Nov 28 12 07:54 pm Link Love the photographs, but they're not want I want to see in the Pirelli Calender. Nov 28 12 11:05 pm Link Thanks for posting the link. This is really terrific stuff. It's gotta be the dream location shoot of a lifetime! There will likely be all sorts of location-shoot tours now popping up in Rio! Would be awesome to check out that city with good reliable guide or two!! Does anybody remember which South American country provides so many supermodels?? Chile? Not sure. Nov 28 12 11:19 pm Link Really enjoyed the video. Seems like a dream assignment! Nov 28 12 11:21 pm Link Genius! Someday I want to shoot the playmate of the year fully clothed in every shot, except the centerfold, where she'd wear two layers. The IQ was nice, especially the video. The weird HDR shot was - weird. The thing is, just because you can say "making it clothed makes it about the models and all the different things they do" doesn't make it true. Those photos were about nothing. He shot landscapes with models in them. There was one shot with a second person in it who was more prominent than the model. Steve McCurry did a great job of being himself. Outside of that one NG photo, everything I've seen from him is landscapes - shapes, objects. They may evoke a feeling, but they are never photos of a feeling and that's exactly what he gave Pirelli. He was the wrong choice in terms of content. I bet is was a fairly big payday for him. You know you've achieved something worthwhile in the past when people hire you for jobs your not appropriate for. It should be clear to him and any management team that he's a brand now. He should have a set of Lightroom plugins, he should have an instructional video, he should have weekend workshops and crazy expensive location workshops. Sony should make a special edition camera with his name on it. Remember the Eddie Bauer Jeep? How about the Sony A99 McCurry edition with an extra JPEG preset with his contrast and saturation in-camera. "Well, there's Nikon and Canon, but if you want to shoot landscapes you might want to check out the A99 Steve McCurry edition...." On the bright side, this has opened up the Pirelli calendar to "creativity". Next year they can hire someone to shoot it with Instagram on an iPhone. Nov 29 12 01:30 am Link While a Steve Curry fan, I don't think - even in his realm of portraiture - that this was anywhere near his best work, especially some which seem to have too much of an HDR feel. Also - as 4824 other posters have mentioned - when I think Pirelli Calender, I want to see sexy. I understand the concept of mixing it up but when you have gone so many years you like new creative approaches but you at least expect the trademarks....and by trademarks I kind of mean....boobs. I mean if in the latest Bond film, the showed Bond going to Bible Study, drinking a milkshake, taking a bus and telling the ladies that he "just wants to cuddle" - there would have been issues as well. Nov 29 12 02:13 am Link MC Photo wrote: I think Nick Knight's 2004 calendar flung that door wide open. While kind of out there, he did not forget the trademarks...and by trademarks I mean....well see post above. lol Nov 29 12 02:26 am Link give me last year's calendar any day. this just sucks. Nov 29 12 03:45 am Link PhotoPower wrote: The 2016 Olympics will be in Rio. Rio will be the location for many photographs. Nov 29 12 03:48 am Link KARL CLIFFORD wrote: It does not matter what anyone here thinks! Pirelli has used his photography on their calendar! Nov 29 12 03:52 am Link Charming video but I'll probably switch back to Good Year's Nov 29 12 04:38 am Link Well he got the rail road tracks in but seems to have completely forgotten about the caution tape. He'll never make it on Model Mayhem. Nov 29 12 05:07 am Link MC Photo wrote: So, who did you want him to be? Nov 29 12 05:49 am Link Watching the video: • Sexy Brazil location - check • Hot brunette model - check • Get her sheer dress wet - check See the final photo - Um, what happened Steve? Nov 29 12 10:17 am Link Fred Greissing wrote: I thought so too, but I had to look because I don't ordinarily use the words "sexy" and "Steve McCurry" in the same sentence, let alone in connection with the Pirelli Calendar. Nov 29 12 10:47 am Link MMDesign wrote: I didn't word it right. I've seen photos he's shot that aren't landscapes. And when I say "landscapes" I'm thinking of photos that have people in them, but they are not portraits. Nov 29 12 12:53 pm Link MMDesign wrote: As far as who did I want him to be? What I mean is that he kept his identity rather than adapt to the identity of the Pirelli calendar. Nov 29 12 12:55 pm Link MC Photo wrote: Right, I assume that's why they hire different photographers, so they bring their own style to the shoots. That said, they had to know up front that he wasn't going to shoot naked women so you really can't blame him. Nov 29 12 01:53 pm Link John Fisher wrote: including your contact information in case they want you to shoot 2014? Nov 29 12 02:06 pm Link the shots are beautiful and the concept of showing off the women's capabilities/interests more than their bodies sounds good (in a politically correct sort of way). but is it a pirelli calendar? Nov 29 12 04:32 pm Link twoharts wrote: We might find, down the road, that a better question would have been "Is this Pirelli's new normal?" Nov 29 12 06:41 pm Link "Re-inventing the wheel" isn't as easy as it sounds. And it's not McFlurry's forte. -JULIAN Nov 29 12 07:06 pm Link MMDesign wrote: It's not. It's a marketing decision. Dec 02 12 01:13 pm Link I guess it's all right, if you want to see the same stereotypical photographs of exotic South American women that everybody else takes. Nat Geo was mentioned a few times, and it's a fitting comparison; not because of content, but because Nat Geo photographers create these stereotypes of certain people, and then everyone else (whether they work for Nat Geo or not) just plays to those same stereotypes over, and over, and over ... .... and over .... Ronald Nyein Zaw Tan wrote: He's going to shoot it full-nude, and then use a black magic marker to cover up all the naughty bits. Dec 02 12 01:27 pm Link Zack Zoll wrote: terry already shot his version of the calendar Dec 02 12 01:32 pm Link Bryan Benoit wrote: I have to agree, the images are beautiful. I have thought for a while that the Calendar should feature top MM models and photographers. Dec 02 12 05:56 pm Link Mark Laubenheimer wrote: and it was fkn awesome! shut a lot of people up real quick. Dec 02 12 06:00 pm Link > Pirelli Calendar 2013 - Steve McCurry more affordable, at least, for sure!  their investors could be not overly happy spending too much millions for some acquisitions, not to mention on very optional elite llamas and calendars, but dropping the calendar tradition abruptly wasn't the option either. IMHO, racing car ads are probably more to the point (their company image could not fully compete with Victoria Secret's approach, obviously - tires are not bras, after all! ), plus competitors do it. I would check their cash flow and other stuff for 2013 http://www.pirelli.com/corporate/en/inv … fault.html of course, I love the calendars, and I'm not an investor Dec 02 12 06:37 pm Link "WASN’T IT STRANGE FOR YOU, WORKING WITH MODELS? SM: Some of the women were models, but this is about their charities, and so I wasn’t photographing them naked. It’s not about their bodies. Or their sexuality. You can do sexy shots anywhere, including the lobby of a hotel. For what I was trying to do I needed setting, background, a sense of atmosphere. I was creating a scene – a foreground, a background, a sense of place. What is it about Rio that makes it Rio? The graffiti, the bars, the bodegas, the incredible light, the shape of the aqueduct, the neighborhood, the shadowy sexy girl walking up the aqueduct. There’s a lot of street life, bars spill into the street. I liked that." http://3d-car-shows.com/2012/pirelli-2013-calendar/ Dec 03 12 09:10 am Link amazing!!! such a beautiful women... i love Brasil!! Dec 03 12 10:07 am Link amazing!!! such a beautiful women... i love Brasil!! Dec 03 12 10:07 am Link |
