The Pirelli Calendar 26 - Behind the scenes - video Dailymotion

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The 2026 Pirelli Calendar, created by Norwegian photographer and director Sølve Sundsbø, was unveiled at the Municipal House in Prague, Czech Republic. The 52nd edition of “The Cal” explores the connection between human beings and nature. Its subjects are presented as symbolic embodiments of the natural elements—earth, air, fire, and water—as well as more intangible forces such as energy, ether, and light.

Transcript

00:00For the 2026 calendar, I want to capture emotions, instincts and states of mind that's central to

00:15human life. So, longing for freedom, curiosity, thirst of knowledge I guess we can call it,

00:22some kind of mystery, imagination, passions, the desire for emancipation,

00:28the connection with nature and our relationship with time and space.

00:34Very big issues, but you know, let's try to be ambitious.

00:42Well, the element that I made Solve give me was earth. I was originally water

00:53and then I was actually air, but I said I wanted to be earth.

00:58I feel absolutely wind, because, like wind, I can be a sweet and welcoming, cold and

01:11summer, as well as I can be a storm.

01:16Nature is a way that I plug myself into a wall. It's how I get my energy and hopefully I can repay that energy

01:23back, but it's everything.

01:29The elements are a reduction of nature in a way. It's always been a way of understanding nature.

01:35From very early civilization, you know, you have like the earth, wind, fire, water,

01:40as a way of reducing nature into something we can comprehend and talk about. So, it felt very natural to

01:47work within a framework where you take everything, basically, because nature is everything,

01:52into something that you can distill and control in a picture. So, that's where it came from.

01:58To be on set and being giving wind element, I feel like the whole set transformed into this magical

02:10place where I felt freedom, a special energy and it's just everything becomes so surreal. Everything,

02:22you stop thinking and you just take it in and that's when the most beautiful pictures get captured.

02:32Water, to me, is my most favorite thing to drink and to be in. And even as a child, people used to

02:39ask me, what do you want to drink? You know, children's parties and things like that. I'd always be

02:43water and they'd just be like, what? But I grew up in Malawi and Nigeria and so I was taught to swim

02:49very, very young age. So, I was swimming from about six months old and I've been swimming all my life

02:54and it's my favorite thing and so I love water.

03:01The process of the calendar was that you started thinking of how to visualize it and then to do it

03:09outside felt overwhelming because of all the information you get. So, for me, a reductionist

03:15approach was to kind of take it inside so you can control everything. So, we started using

03:21new technology in terms of using huge LED walls and you can go out and sort of almost harvest

03:28nature and then bring it into the studio. So, I was given the element of fire and I think it's perfect.

03:35I absolutely think it's perfect. It represents who I am as a person. I'm very passionate.

03:42I'm never afraid. Fire just takes over. I definitely take over, especially in my own life. And just,

03:50I think it represented the player that I've always been. Just power, controlled aggression

03:58and strength. It's definitely the perfect element for me.

04:02Photography is a craving. Photography is a search. Photography is a passion. For me, it is to create

04:15a moment where everything is right. Not right as in everything is fine. It is a moment that I can control

04:24and I can send out into the world and I can sort of say, how about this? Is this something you find

04:31interesting? Is this something you find beautiful? Do I ask some interesting questions with this? And I

04:35have a need for that. That moment of communication is important for me.

04:42I've never worked with Solveig before and it was one of the reasons I wanted to do the photo

04:47besides the prestige of being in the Pirelli calendar. Because he's such a fantastic photographer.

04:54And I particularly like his experiment with video.

04:58He captures the beauty of the woman in its purest form. You know, like it's almost anatomical,

05:07but not. And then it's kind of digital at the same time. So he combines the digital world with the

05:16most primitive kind of, you know, body structure together. It's very visceral. It's very intimate.

05:27It's extremely bold and futuristic at the same time.

05:35I think he's a very quiet person, but you can also feel that he's a

05:42person who's a very familiar person. And he's a very special person, and he's a very special person.

05:58Joy is really significant in any sort of working relationship, creative relationship. To be able

06:08to find some kind of joy together. A deep respect of one another and the pure pleasure of it.

06:19How many goodly creatures are there here? How beauteous mankind is. Oh, brave new world

06:28that has such people in it.

The Pirelli Calendar 26 - Behind the scenes

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