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Pirelli Calendar by Peter Knapp anno
1966
The legend
Colin Forbes and Derek
Forsyth, are together again as, respectively, art director and
producer for the 1966 edition of the Calendar. Forbes and
Forsyth decide to go outside the confines of Europe and find a
more exotic location for the 1966 shoot. They choose Morocco,
or more precisely, the Club Mediterranée, at Al
Hoceima.
The idea for this year's calendar is a
variation of the theme of the 1964 edition: "beautul girls go
on holiday to an exotic resort".
Peter Knapp, a fashion
photographer whose images had graced the pages of the French
magazine Elle, is chosen to capture Forbes' and Forsyth's
ideas on film. In the beginning, Knapp is a bit sceptical
about the project. He was convinced the public would only see
the girls and not his photography. The final results prove him
wrong. Knapp's realistic and sensual images seem to come more
from a fashion spread, than from an advertising tool for
tires; the models are mostly dressed, but the eroticism is,
none-the-less, electric.
The only model whose name has
not been lost in the passage of time is Shirley Ann. Several
were "found" on location at the Club Med as the shooting
progressed.
The 1966 edition is the first Calendar
officially launched to the press. Robert Newman has been hired
by Pirelli to head up Pirelli's public relations effort and
one of his first acts in office is the organisation of a gala
presentation of the Calendar to the English press. Newman
rents a ballroom in the Carlton Tower Hotel in London,
organises a menu based on Moroccan dishes and invites eighty
five journalists. Only twelve come and a short paragraph in
the English newspaper, The Sun the next day is the only
mention of the event, but Pirelli is elated. Tire companies
were used to begging for space even in the speciality
publications, to be mentioned in a national newspaper is a
minor miracle.
Unfortunately, the Pirelli head office
in Milan is not so enthusiastic. The Calendar is looked upon
as being rather negative for the image of a respectable
Italian family concern.
Presentation
If
the 1964 represented the beginning of the Pirelli Calendar
legend, what happened to the 1966 sent the Pirelli calendar
into orbit. For the first time it had a press launch. Only a
small group of journalists attended the sumptuous affair in
the cavernous ballroom of London's Carlton Tower Hotel. The
press conference yielded just once article. The story was not
in an obscure trade magazine but The Sun national newspaper -
and that told Britain's top picture editors a new and exciting
source of glamour photography had arrived.
The
theme
The photographer Peter Knapp chooses Morocco as
set for his hymn to whispers. Whispers like those coming out
from half closed mouth of the girl of the month of April 1966
or out of the swimming suit of Shirley Ann (May), transparent
on his gorgeous bottom line.
The
photographer(s)
Peter Knapp, is a resident of Paris,
where he teaches at an advanced graphic arts school, the
Julian Academy. Knapp is originally Swiss, and has studied in
Zurich, but he is very close to the artistic culture of
London. Knapp began his career as a painter, but abandoned the
brush for the camera in 1966, when he dedicated himself to a
professional career as a fashion photographer. Knapp obtained
international fame with his photography for the French
magazine, Elle. He broke away from the artificial, and static,
style of the 50's that was in vogue, and produced images which
were more realistic and sensuous. Knapp has also been director
of the French edition of Fortune magazine. His work has been
shown in many of the principal galleries of Europe and the
United States.
He was the photographer for the 1966
edition of the Calendar.
The Art
Director
Colin Forbes became an art director for
Pirelli in 1964, after Pirelli fired its advertising agency,
and decided to create its own image. Forbes was art director
for the 1965 and 1966 editions of the calendar. He has since
retired and moved to the United States.
The
Location
The Photos
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