Prince Gyasi is the first Black photographer to shoot the Pirelli calendar

Dazed Digital, June 30, 2023

Following in the footsteps of some of the world’s greatest photographers, the Accra-based creative will lens the 60th edition of the calendar. 

 

The Pirelli calendar has been on the go since 1963, but wildly, it’s taken until its 60th anniversary for the tyre company to invite a Black photographer to step behind the camera and capture a stellar cast for the upcoming year. 

 

The creative in question for 2024 is Accra-based Prince Gyasi, who has made a name for himself with his brilliantly bold images which celebrate childhood, parenthood, and familial bonds, as well as Blackness and his Ghanaian roots.

Originally starting life as a porny, NSFW catalogue of barely-clothed models, in recent years the Pirelli calendar has entered a more conceptual, high-fashion era. In 2018, Tim Walker lensed P Diddy, Duckie Thot, Lil Yachty, and Naomi Campbell in a new, all-Black reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, while 2023 saw Emma Summerton capture portraits of Adut Akech, Precious Lee, and Bella Hadid as part of an ode to ‘the muse’. 

 

“I'm honoured that Pirelli has given me the opportunity to express my thoughts, feelings and emotions on their canvas for the 60th calendar,” Gyasi says of the project. “Representation and culture are very important to me, therefore, for the first time in the calendar's history, I have decided that part of the project will take place in my country, Ghana.”

 

Others who have stepped behind the camera across the years include Annie Leibowitz, Karl Lagerfeld, Mario Sorrenti, Paolo Roversi, Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, and Inez & Vinoodh. 

Stay tuned in September when Gyasi’s full cast will be revealed, and revisit past Pirelli images in the gallery above.