Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø takes us behind-the-scenes of shooting the 2026 Pirelli Calendar

Shooting the Pirelli Calendar is a bucket-list gig for any fashion photographer. Yet, when Pirelli called up Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø and asked if he might be interested in capturing the 2026 edition of the iconic calendar, he coyly responded “Yes, I might be interested”. But now, with the calendar, which this time around stars the likes of Isabella Rossellini, Tilda Swinton and Venus Williams finally releasing, Sundsbø can drop any subtleties and simply admit this is sort of a big deal. “I don’t think there are many photographers who wouldn’t have that on their bucket list,” he says.

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For Sundsbø, who has also shot for one of Vogue Scandinavia's earliest issues, it was important to find a way into the project that felt specific and natural to him. “People think of it and think, ‘Oh, it’s a half-naked or a naked woman on a beach’, and it is that, but it’s a lot more than that as well,” he says. “There’s a lot of different concepts that have been explored over the years and there’s room for finding your own way to do it.”

Since 2016, Pirelli has given photographers more leeway within the project, celebrating a diverse selection of talents in a range of settings and circumstances. There was Tim Walker’s “'Alice in Wonderland” interpretation in 2018 and Emma Summerton’s iconic female muses in 2023, both shot with elaborate sets in-studio. Last year, however, Ethan James Green brought the calendar back to its so-called roots, with a sensual shoot on a beach, modernised with thoughtfully diverse casting.

There was one element of the calendar’s ethos that resonated with Sundsbø immediately. “We wanted to have a connection with nature – that was quite clear,” he says. “But how can you put a spin on it and make it personal?”

Rather than simply shoot talents on a beach or in a field, Sundsbø, who these days lives in London, captured the landscapes of Norfolk and Essex and brought them into studio by way of a massive, curved LED screen. The technique allowed Sundsbø to control the uncontrollable. “Whether it’s a reflection in water or a moving time-lapse in the sky, you can abstract nature in a way you can’t do outside,” he says. “I can’t get the clouds to move at a thousand times the speed they do in real time.”

Sundsbø is the first to admit that this obsession with nature is rather Norwegian. “I’ve lived in London for 31 years now, but I do go back to Norway all the time and I do have that longing for nature,” he says. “So I was like, ‘OK, let’s really embrace it and make that the centre of the whole thing.”

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To emphasise strength and sensuality in lieu of overt sexiness, Sundsbø captured, as he put it, “women, not young models”. “I think the youngest one is 40, so that enables an approach to sensuality that doesn’t feel problematic to me,” he says, noting that the women featured are accomplished actors, athletes and musicians. The impact is a series of images that nods to Pirelli’s history, whilst feeling firmly fresh and modern.

Recently, Sundsbø watched a documentary series about Norwegian architects. “They were talking about summer houses,” he says. “And every single one of them said, ‘We want to bring nature into the house’.” In many ways, that’s what the photographer has done with the 2026 Pirelli Calendar; brought nature inside, in its purest form.