The reveal of the annual Pirelli calendar is always a moment — it showcases the artistic vision of a top photographer using some of the world’s most famous faces. And this year is no different.
The 2024 edition of The Cal, as it’s nicknamed, is the work of 28-year-old Ghanaian visual artist Prince Gyasi, who broke through using just his iPhone to take photographs. Now he shoots his high-profile projects with state-of-the-art cameras and is known for his vibrant imagery, which is influenced by his synesthesia, a condition that causes him to associate words with colors. That color burst is on max in the calendar as he captured an A-list roster of models including Naomi Campbell, Angela Bassett and Idris Elba. The Italian tire company’s calendar is a milestone because not only is it the 50th edition, but it’s also the first time it was shot by a Black, African photographer.
Gyasi says it wasn’t until he said yes that he “found out I was the first Black artist” to shoot the project, he tells Yahoo Entertainment. “It was such a humbling experience,” especially as part of the shoot took place in Ghana, where he is from.
Here’s what to know, from the calendar’s theme to what it’s like being a model to how to get a copy.
How did The Cal become a thing?
It debuted in 1964 as a way for Pirelli to stand out among its competitors —a spectacle of glamour and fashion. It was then created annually with the intention to mark the passing of time through images.
The Cal has evolved. For a spell, it contained lots of nude pictorials (Campbell’s bare behind at age 16 and Heidi Klum’s shoot); next, it celebrated women for their accomplishments (athlete Serena Williams, singer Patti Smith, writer Fran Lebowitz and actress Helen Mirren have all appeared). There’s been an edition featuring only Black models and ones that included plus-size models as well as men.
Today, the calendar, which comes in a case that doubles as a frame, is an artistic piece. In the 60 years since it launched, there have been gaps in publication, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why this year’s is number 50.
What’s this year’s theme — and can I get one?
“Timeless” is the 2023 theme, with Gyasi saying in the accompanying video that the project is about “defying those who say that we cannot, that we’re too old, too young, too different, too much or too little.” It’s about defying the rules.
The budget for each edition is typically about $2 million, and about 20,000 copies are made. The calendar is not for sale — it is gifted to a small group of Pirelli clients and celebrities.
Who’s in it this year?
In addition to Campbell, Bassett and Elba, this year’s models include singer and actress Teyana Taylor, poet Amanda Gorman, author Margot Lee Shetterly, singer and director Jeymes Samuel, singer Tiwa Savage, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, the king of Ghana’s Asante people, visual artist Amoako Boafo, former pro soccer player Marcel Desailly and Abul Faid Yusuf, a young model.
Gyasi hand-picked his subjects, saying they have all inspired him throughout his life. He had previously worked with Campbell, including on magazine cover shoots. He considers her his “big sister,” he says, so she was one of the first to get the call.
“Naomi was like, ‘I didn’t know that I would have to do Pirelli again,’ because she’s done it five times. [She said,] ‘I have to do it because you are doing it, and this will be amazing,’” he recalls.
Each shoot was Gyasi’s vision, designed over more than two months. Even a seasoned supermodel like Campbell takes his direction.
“She trusts me. She doesn’t even ask me questions until she gets to set … because we worked already together,” he says. “It was very easy. I just told her what I want to do, and she was very excited because she knows I’ll always put her in the best light.”
Where did the shoots take place?
The photos were shot at Big Sky Studios in London in June; shoots in Accra and Kumasi, both in Ghana, followed in July.
“Ghana is a place for creativity, so people want to visit,” Gyasi says.
Having the king participate was obviously something special.
“It’s never happened. He has never been in something like this. Nobody dares to ask him to do this. It was my idea. It was between a political leader or him, and I decided to [ask] the king,” Gyasi says, seeming surprised it happened.
Taylor was also one of the stars to be shot in Ghana. It was special because it was her first trip to Africa.
“Africa is next level,” says the Harlem native. “I was sad that I only got to be there for 24 to 30 hours because it was just so beautiful. But the experience was amazing. I woke up early, and I got to shop a little bit. I got to go to the markets. I left with clothes. I left with inspiration. I got a little emotional.”
The A Thousand and One star loved it so much she’s going back to Ghana over the holidays with her two daughters.
What’s it like to model in a Pirelli calendar?
It runs the gamut. While photo shoots are the norm for Campbell and Taylor, they aren’t for Shetterly, the author of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race, which was adapted to film in 2016.
“I was surprised to be asked,” Shetterly says. “They were like, ‘We want you to be in this calendar, and the other people in it are Idris Elba, Naomi Campbell and this up-and-coming, amazing artist from Ghana.’ I was like, ‘Why are they choosing me? But I’m going to say yes.’”
Shetterly’s shoot took place over one day in London, but it was the whole shebang: hair, makeup, jewelry, costume fitting. She was paired with Gorman, who, she says, “in addition to being a talented poet and writer … was also a really delightful person to spend some time with.” She recalls how Gorman had to pose “with one foot in the air and chalk in her hand for most the shoot. How she did it, I don’t know, but she looked amazing and was such a good sport about it.”
Shetterly, who is working on the second installment of her American Dream book series, says that as a professional whose life is behind the scenes, “I have so much respect for actors and models. I think people think that somehow that’s a really easy job. I think that’s a very difficult job.”
Taylor recalls thinking as she pulled up to her shoot that the setup was “a whole garden of roses and a little spaceship. I just felt like queen alien,” she laughs. “I loved it because that’s already who I feel like I am. I always feel like I am other.”
She has experience directing and styling, so “in a lot of my shoots, I kind of take over and help,” she says. “I’m a big helper because I want it to be perfect. It was the first time in a long time that I was able to just focus on one thing — do my poses. I didn’t feel like I had to micromanage. We gave input to one another, but it was like a giver meets a giver,” she says of Gyasi. “With the creativity, we were like the male and female version of each other. The styling was amazing. The hair was amazing. We were all really collaborative. It was nothing that I felt like I needed to be all over somebody’s shoulder, which is a really rare occasion for me.”
Samuel also had fun striking a pose. He recalled listening to early cuts of the soundtrack for his upcoming film Book of Clarence (he directs, and Taylor stars with Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo and Alfre Woodard).
“Prince did me right,” he says of his final image. “I’m like the mad scientist. I love it.”
How did the photographer land The Cal?
Gyasi didn’t solicit the job — one that has previously been done by a who’s who list of famed shutterbugs, including Annie Leibovitz, Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts and Peter Lindbergh. The self-taught talent was on a plane in February, headed to the Grammys, when his manager told him he had been offered the shoot.
“They just reached out,” he says. “It was a big surprise to me.”
The calendar had been on his radar because he had seen then-British Vogue editor Edward Enninful post about it on Instagram a few years earlier. Enninful, who was also born in Ghana, styled the calendar shoot in 2018. At the time, Gyasi said he read up about the calendar’s storied history and then moved on. “And then it came on my lap.”
Samuel says Gysai was perfect for the job “because the time and space we’re living in, it just seems like the natural order of things for an artist as profound as Prince to be doing the Pirelli calendar. It’s on brand for the universe right now. It just makes sense.
“I’m not saying it because I’m in it,” he continues. “For me, this 2024 calendar is by far the most enriched calendar. It’s historic. Prince is so much more than a photographer. He’s an artist, a visionary. He’s a songwriter with pictures.”
Shetterly says that while it’s “absolutely fabulous” that Gyasi is garnering attention as the first Black and African visual artist to land this job, “Now let’s move on to his artistic vision.”
What’s next for Gysai, whose home base remains Accra? “Everything,” he says, sharing that he wants to work with Pharrell Williams in music and fashion, Kendrick Lamar and directors he admires (like Samuel) in addition to continuing his work with his nonprofit, Boxed Kids, which gives a creative outlet to underprivileged children.
“Hopefully, I get to do a beautiful film in the future, which is coming very soon,” he teases.