Tim Walker

Pirelli Calendar 2018

XII INTERNATIONAL MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN MOSCOW PHOTOBIENNALE 2018

Pirelli Calendar 2018. Tim Walker

Pirelli invited acclaimed British photographer Tim Walker to work on the 45th edition of their calendar. This is the illustrious auteur’s first exhibition in Russia.

Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s immortal novel ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and the artist John Tenniel’s illustrations for the first edition in 1865, Tim Walker presents a new interpretation of one of the best-known tales in the history of world literature.

Unique costumes and sets were created for the calendar and the shoot took place in London in May 2017, as a collaboration between legendary English set designer Shona Heath and new editor-in-chief of British Vogue and icon of the contemporary fashion world Edward Enninful.

‘Alice has been told so many times,’ says Tim Walker, ‘and I wanted to go back to the genesis of the imagination behind Lewis Carroll, so that you could tell it from the very beginning again. I wanted to find a different and original angle.’

For the shoot Tim Walker enlisted 18 personalities, both established and upcoming young talents, including musicians, actors, TV presenters, writers and models. Alice was brilliantly played by Australian model of Sudanese origin Duckie Thot. Naomi Campbell acted as a Royal Beheader, the actress, writer and television presenter Whoopi Goldberg morphed into the Duchess, the March Hare was actress and producer Sasha Lane, and lawyer Thando Hopa became the Princess of Hearts.

‘It is very important that the story of Alice be told to a new generation. Her adventure in Wonderland resonates with the world we live in today, the obstacles we have to overcome. They are a celebration of cultural differences. Growing up in London, I often lived in a fantasy world of fairy tales and detective novels. Alice was always one of my favourite characters. I always felt I was with her on the journey through Wonderland, and all of these extraordinary characters became my friends… well, all but the scary Queen and her beheaders. To see a black Alice today means children of all races can embrace the idea of diversity from a very young age and also acknowledge that beauty comes in all colours. Culturally we are living in a diverse world. Projects like this remarkable Pirelli Calendar demonstrate that there is still hope in what sometimes feels like an increasingly cynical reality,’ says Edward Enninful.

In the words of Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Professor of English Literature at Oxford University and author of the essay ‘Being Alice’, devoted to the Pirelli Calendar 2018, the central character’s ‘personal history as the child of Sudanese refugees who moved to Australia makes her an ideal modern incarnation of Carroll’s restless and rootless heroine. Meanwhile, the Pirelli Calendar as a whole offers a perfect demonstration of the fact that Lewis Carroll’s story remains a work in progress. This shows yet again that Wonderland, like the universe, continues to expand.’

Photographer: Tim Walker
Stylist: Edward Enninful
Set designer: Shona Heath
Cast: Adut Akech — Queen of Diamonds; Adwoa Aboah — Tweedledee; Alpha Dia — Five-of-Hearts/Gardener; Djimon Hounsou — King of Hearts; Duckie Thot — Alice; King Owusu — Two-of-Hearts/Gardener; Lil Yachty — Queen’s Guard; Lupita Nyong’o — Dormouse; Naomi Campbell — Royal Beheader; RuPaul — Queen of Hearts; Sasha Lane — March Hare; Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs — Royal Beheader; Slick Woods — Mad Hatter; Thando Hopa — Princess of Hearts; Whoopi Goldberg — Duchess; Wilson Oryema — Seven-of-Hearts/Gardener; Zoe Bedeaux — Caterpillar; Jaha Dukureh — Wonderland Princess.