The Pirelli Calendar, now known as The Cal, is infamous as a symbol of elite photography and a platform for commentary on modern culture, and the 51st edition has just been unveiled.
The 2025 edition was shot by renowned fashion and portrait photographer Ethan James Green and features an array of well-known contemporary figures including John Boyega, Hunter Schafer, Padma Lakshmi, and Vincent Cassel. In keeping with previous iconic editions of the calendar, Green plays with nudity and explores what beauty means today.
Above: The behind-the-scenes video of The Cal being made
For only the third time in the calendar's history, the photographer Ethan James Green also places himself as a subject, enhancing the message and this year's core project concept of 'celebrating the body and the self'. Green says, "I put myself in the Calendar because the only person I could tell to be completely nude was myself".
Each Pirelli calendar is shot with a different concept and this year's title is Refresh and Reveal, celebrating both self and body by revisiting the classic beach shoot. The beach shoot is a nod to the origins of The Cal, however, Green revisits the approach 'delivering a collaborative, multi-dimensional meditation on the nature of beauty today'.
Speaking on this year's concept Green says, "We're calling it Refresh and Reveal. It's a refresh because we're going back to the beginnings of the Calendar and updating it, and a reveal because we're returning to this idea of showing skin, which is one way of capturing someone's true self.”
Above: A gallery of official shots from the Pirelli Calendar 2025
Get the Digital Camera World Newsletter
The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!
Each model is represented by two photographs, one on the beach or in the ocean taken in color, and the second a black and white timeless studio portrait. Green took inspiration from previous Pirelli Calendar photographers Richard Avedon and Herb Ritts and their approach to creating photographs that stand the test of time.
Green says, "They [Avedon and Ritts] really captured the person and created beautiful timeless images. That was a big part of what I wanted to achieve with my Calendar: to create something people can look back on in 20 to 30 years time that isn't going to feel dated and hopefully will be referenced in the future. The world has changed so much since the last time Pirelli had a really sexy Calendar. I was excited to explore how we see beauty now and who is considered beautiful within the classic Pirelli Cal arena – in the studio and on the beach".
You can, however, see more of the project on the official Pirelli Calendar website.Pirelli has launched a 'making of' trailer for the calendar on its Youtube channel which gives a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at how the project was created, and as a photographer, of course, I was focusing on the gear and the lighting setups!
If I'm not mistaken, it appears that the newest Pirelli calendar was shot with a Canon EOS R5, and for at least some of the beach images, an 85mm Zeiss lens. Although the Canon R5 is a fan favorite here at DCW, it's no longer Canon's flagship mirrorless camera, proving once more, that it's not just about the gear!
The calendar is only produced in limited quantities, exclusively presented to celebrities, commercial partners, and clients of Pirelli, therefore getting your hands on one will prove rather difficult. You can however see more of the project on the official Pirelli Calendar website.
Check out our guides to the best Canon cameras and Canon RF lenses.
