Backstage on the photoshooting for Pirelli Calendar 2019

Pirelli unveils the behind-the-scenes photos of the 2019 Calendar, made this year by the famous Scottish photographer Albert Watson, exceptional moments between the photographer and his models.

Pirelli reveals a series of 26 exclusive photos of the shooting between Miami and New York * to present the new edition of its calendar.

Albert Watson, legend of portrait photography, starring in Cal 2019 the story of four exceptional women embodied by Misty Copeland, Laeticia Casta, Julia Garner and Gigi Hadid.

The Pirelli 2019 Calendar recounts the journey of a dancer, a painter, a photographer and a businesswoman, having made great changes in their lives and about to realize their dreams. Through his shots, Albert Watson wants to tell their journey, to understand the emotional power of their dreams, the turning points, the moments of victory and defeat. The photographer intends to show how these women faced the challenges.

Since the mid-1970s, Albert Watson's clichés have captivated Vogue's readers, who have made over a hundred stunning covers, including more than 40 for Rolling Stone magazine. Watson took some of the world's best-known photos, from the portrait of Steve Jobs, for the cover of his biography, to Kate Moss posing nude on her 19th birthday, and the photo of Alfred Hitchcock holding a shaved goose .

* shooting in April 2018: Misty Copeland, Laeticia Casta, Julia Garner in Miami and Gigi Hadid in New York

Biography Albert Watson

Since his early career in 1970, Albert Watson has established himself among the most successful and prolific photographers in the world by combining art, fashion and commercial photography with some of the most iconic images of the world. history. Whether portraits of Alfred Hitchcock and Steve Jobs, portraits of Kate Moss, landscapes of Las Vegas and antique still lifes of King Tutankhamun, the diversity of his portfolio is unprecedented. His impressive photographs and the superb prints he develops himself are featured in galleries and museums around the world. The photography magazine Photo District News has named him one of the 20 most influential photographers of all time, along with Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, among others. Watson won Albert Watson has devoted much of his time to art projects for exhibitions of museums and art galleries, featuring his famous portraits and fashion photographs as well as strong shots from his travels and interests personal, such as a snake charmer in Morocco, a dominatrix in Las Vegas or the spectacular mountains of Scotland's Isle of Skye.

He published five books: "Cyclope" (1994, Collector's Edition); "Morocco" (Rizzoli, 1998); "Albert Watson" (Phaidon, 2007); "Strip Search" (PQ Blackwell / Chronicle 2010) and "UFO: Unified Fashion Objectives" (PQ Blackwell / Abrams 2010.) His latest book "Kaos," was published by Taschen in the fall of 2017. In addition, many catalogs of his photographs have been published in exhibitions of museums and art galleries. Since 2004, the Museum of Modern Art in Milan, Italy, the KunstHausWien in Vienna, Austria, the City Art Center in Edinburgh, Scotland, the FotoMuseum in Antwerp, Belgium, the NRW Forum in Düsseldorf, in Germany, the Forma Galleria of Milan, the Fotografiska of Stockholm, Sweden, and the Multimedia Art Museum of Moscow, Russia, have hosted exhibitions devoted to Albert Watson.

The year 2013 saw a major retrospective of his career presented at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, and featuring a new work made in Benin, Africa. Albert Watson's photographs have also been featured in numerous museum group exhibitions, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, the photography of Lianzhou in China, International Center of Photography in New York, Brooklyn Museum and Deichtorhallen.

His photographs are included in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, the Scottish Parliament, the Deichtorhallen, the Multimedia Art Museum and the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Albert Watson studied graphic design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, as well as film and television at the Royal College of Art in London. Although blind from an eye since his birth, he learns photography as part of his studies. In 1970, he moved to the United States with his wife, Elizabeth, who worked as a primary school teacher in in Los Angeles, where he begins to practice photography mainly as a hobby. Later that year, he met an artistic director of Max Factor who then offered him his first photographic test session, which the company bought two shots. Her distinctive style attracts the attention of American and European fashion magazines like Mademoiselle, GQ and Harper's Bazaar, who then offer her a session with Alfred Hitchcock, the first celebrity he's photographing. Shortly after, Albert Watson began commuting between Los Angeles and New York and, in 1975, he won a Grammy for the cover of the album Mason Proffit "Come and Gone". His career began in 1976 when he landed his first job for Vogue and moved to New York. Watson has always been addicted to work. Millions of images and negatives on which we can read the names of world-renowned magazines and companies are archived in his studio in Manhattan. This studio, which also serves as a personal gallery, contains extremely large format photographs, many of which were taken in Las Vegas. At first glance, the range of soft and subdued colors of these landscapes, interiors and portraits surprise the viewer. But even in his new creations, Albert Watson remains true to himself. The photographs create an aura that draws the viewer into the image while simultaneously imposing a respectful distance. Albert Watson's visual language follows his own rules and concepts of quality. With their brilliance, their sense of urgency, their very greatness, his photographs stand out clearly from the world of today's images. His way of illuminating subjects, especially fetishistic objects and portraits, creates an almost meditative atmosphere.

Watson is undoubtedly an artist whose unique photographic vision greatly enriches our perception. Although the wide variety of his images reflect effortless versatility, their power and technical virtuosity allow them to be recognized as photographs of Albert Watson, be it a cliché of Scotland's forest, a Yohji Yamamoto dress of a supermodel, a close up of the space suit worn on the moon by astronaut Alan Shepard or the iconic black and white portrait of Steve Jobs. This resolute commitment to perfection has made him one of the most sought-after photographers in the world.