The world’s 12 greatest photographers come together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lavazza Calendar!
The Lavazzers is the name of the twentieth edition of the Lavazza Calendar, which brings together 12 photographic maestros who have contributed to the calendar’s success over the years: Erwin Olaf, Thierry Le Gouès, Miles Aldridge, Marino Parisotto, Eugenio Recuenco, Elliott Erwitt, Finlay MacKay, Mark Seliger, Annie Leibovitz, Albert Watson, David LaChapelle, and Ellen von Unwerth.
They enthusiastically put themselves on stage to celebrate their most intimate relationship with Lavazza coffee through their self-portraits. Like any close-knit team, these 12 photographers were led by the Armando Testa agency, also responsible for producing this edition of the Lavazza Calendar. They interpreted their own characters in innovative, unusual and original shots.
We’re so used to seeing them behind the lens that discovering them today as protagonists in front of the camera gives us a truly new emotion: for example, in a shot entitled “An ordinary morning that feels like paradise”, David LaChapelle, the king of the jungle, explains that coffee is “an instrument to set one’s mind in motion”; and Erwin Olaf, in his photo entitled “My flying thoughts”, points out that when he drinks a Lavazza coffee he thinks “quite naturally of the human body”.
Here is a gallery of intensely evocative portraits, sometimes using humorous, enigmatic photographs, sometimes using refined images evoking sculpture, icons to be deciphered: the end result hits the nail on the head because of its diversity, and the introspective, surreal approach of each artist, to form a unique work that brings together traditional photography, sophisticated personal techniques and, in some cases, digital art. “Every year, the Lavazza Calendar experiments with new artistic trends and different themes interpreted by an international artist,” explains Francesca Lavazza, Group Image Director. “For this edition, which is of such importance and significance for our communications, we wanted to turn the tables and ask these great photographers to create their self-portrait inspired by our espresso: the result is truly fantastic.”
“It was an incredible experience for me to work with these immense talents and succeed in capturing the relationship that exists between their personalities and coffee in each photo,” points out Michele Mariani, Managing Creative Director of the Armando Testa agency. “It was almost like a homecoming or, better still, a new interpretation of the Espress Yourself (Express– yourself) concept so dear to Lavazza.”
Valerie van der Graaf is the symbol and driving force behind the 2012 Calendar, and the entire project linked to the brand’s twentieth anniversary. This young Dutch model – the protagonist of the photographs taken by Ellen von Unwerth – will appear on the cover of the 2012 edition, blowing out the candles for a symbolic anniversary that has a double meaning: if the Lavazza Calendar is celebrating its 20th anniversary, Valerie is also 20 years old. We couldn’t think of a better spokesperson for the future.
Just as the 1995 Lavazza Calendar, also photographed by Ellen von Unwerth, marked the Turin-based company’s 100th anniversary, with the very young Amber Smith in front of a huge birthday cake, these new images by the German photographer show Valerie in front of 20 lit candles. In her self-portrait for the 2012 Calendar, Ellen is, once again, ready to party with Lavazza.
“Everyone knows I’m a photographer. But what people don’t always know is that when it comes to birthday cakes, I’m often called in, especially when I’m working with Lavazza: this was the case once, to celebrate the brand’s 100th anniversary, and now it’s the case again for the 20th anniversary of the Lavazza calendar. So, you see, there’s always a good excuse to celebrate something. And if there’s a party, you can be sure I’m in.” (Ellen Von Unwerth).
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
