Lavazza Calendar 2012 (+18)

The calendar LAVAZZA became an object of cult and desire for collectors and enthusiasts of photography worldwide. In the last 20 years, under the motto Espress Yourself, famous photographers around the world captured the soul of this coffee. In this twentieth edition of the calendar, the brand decided to put twelve of the masters of photography, which contributed to the success of this project in front of the cameras, in a dizzying palette of talent and color.
Inspiration, substance, reflection, seduction, humor, culture, excitement, depth, escape, intimacy, energy and euphoria: twelve months, twelve different styles, lived twelve stories in first person, in front of the lens. Under the direction of Armando Testa Agency, photographers 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 interpreted in first person, some of your images.

“Every year, the Lavazza Calendar tries new artistic trends and new themes interpreted by an international artist. In an issue as important and memorable for our communication, we wanted to reverse roles and ask to all these great photographers to create self-portraits inspired by our Coffee Express: the result is really exciting”, said Francesca Lavazza, Director of Corporate Image Group.
It is a unique opportunity to see big names in photography, usually hidden by the lens, in the leading role of scenarios and humorous stories, curious, intense, or even surreal. David LaChapelle, for example, presents himself as king of the jungle in a photograph entitled “A normal morning turns into Paradise”, which tells how the coffee is “a tool to put my head to work”, and Erwin Olaf in your photo “My thoughts flying away” says: “when I drink coffee Lavazza, of course I have the human body in mind”.
Valerie van der Graaf, the Dutch model of 20 years old, is the iconic face of calendar 2012, and the protagonist of the Ellen von Unwerth photos, who appears on the cover and blowing out the candles.
“It was amazing to work with such great talents to capture the relationship between their personalities and the coffee in every picture. It was almost like a homecoming, or rather a new interpretation of the slogan ‘Espress Yourself’, so beloved by Lavazza”, said Michele Mariani, Creative Director of the Armando Testa Agency.

See the making of at YouTube:

Learn more about the company clicking here www.lavazza.com. Enjoy the gallery.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Ellen von Unwerth, cover.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Erwin Olaf, January.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Thierry Le Gouãs, February

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Miles Aldridge, March.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Marino Parisotto, April.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Eugenio Recuenco, May.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Elliott Erwitt, June.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Finlay MacKay, July.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Mark Seliger, August.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Annie Leibovitz, September.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Albert Watson, Ocotober.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, David LaChapelle, November.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Ellen von Unwerth, December.

© LAVAZZA Calendar 2012, Ellen von Unwerth, back cover.

Greta Garbo – Part 1

HOLLYWOOD DIVAS: GRETA GARBO – PART 1

On September 18, 1905 a baby girl was born on the Stockholm island of Södermalm. Her parents would give her the name Greta Lovisa Gustafsson. How could anyone know that the young infant would one day become the world’s most famous woman? A woman whom everyone would come to know as Garbo.

1914 — age 9 (that’s Garbo in the middle)

At the age of 14 Greta Garbo’s father died and the young girl was forced to leave school and get a job in order to help her disadvantaged family (her mother and two siblings).

1920 — age 15

She got herself a job at the Stockholm department store PUB, and it was not long after that the store would use Garbo’s unique look in their advertising campaigns. Soon after appearing in newspaper ad’s Garbo went on to make an advertising short for PUB, which would giver her first taste for film. After appearing in another short film, a comedy director gave Garbo a small part in his production of “Luffar-Petter” (1922) and soon after the young Greta received a scholarship at a drama school in Stockholm.

1923 — age 18 (by Olaf Ekstrand)

In 1924 Garbo would make her big break through when famed director Mauritz Stiller gave her a part in his film “Gösta Berlings Saga”. Following the films success both Garbo and Stiller were offered contracts with MGM in California. Her first film there would be “The Torrent”, and slowly but surely Garbo became one of the silent eras biggest stars, making a series of films including “Love” and “A Woman of Affairs”.

1926 — age 21

It was during these early Hollywood years that Garbo also came close to getting married. But at the last minute she left groom John Gilbert standing at the altar in 1927. She would never marry, but rumours and speculation of her love life and interests would continue for years.

1929 — age 24

A successful box office star, Garbo’s talents were put to the test as talkies began to replace the silent film era. Everyone knew Garbo looked great, but how did she sound, and could she even speak English? Hollywood got the answer in 1930 when she played the title role in the 1930 film “Anna Christie”. Her divine looks were now accompanied by a dark and seductive voice, and as she spoke one of her first lines in the film (“Give me a whiskey. Ginger ale on the side. And don’t be stingy, baby”) the world became captivated. “Anna Christie” made Garbo a talking star and it garnered her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

1930 — age 25

A string of successful films followed, but it would be films like “Grand Hotel”, “Queen Christina”, “Anna Karenina” and “Camille” (which got her another Oscar nomination) that would forever be associated with her.

1932 — age 27

In 1939 Garbo made her first comedy, “Ninotchka”. It was a box office hit, and would get her another Oscar nomination. MGM had found a new way to market one of the world’s biggest stars; as a comedienne.

1941 — age 36

In 1941 Garbo made another comedy, “Two-Faced Woman”. The film would be her last.

1946—age 41 (by Cecil Beaton)

After her Hollywood years Garbo moved to New York City.

1951 — age 46 (by George Hoyningen-Huene)

In 1951 she became an American citizen, and in 1954 she finally received an Oscar (a special award for her unforgettable performances). Over the next 30 years she would jet-set with some of the world’s best known personalities, and although she had not made a film since “Two-Faced Woman”, public interest never died.

1965 — age 60 (by Cecil Beaton)

The paparazzi followed her and there were constant rumors of a comeback (some true, most false).Garbo would later reflect, saying that ”The story of my life is about back entrances, side doors, secret elevators and other ways of getting in and out of places so that people won’t bother me.” The world’s greatest movie star became known as the world greatest recluse.

1990 — age 85

Garbo’s health declined in her 80’s and on April 15, 1990, she died of natural causes in New York. In June of 1999 her remains were interred at Skogskyrkogården Cemetery in Stockholm.

Text from www.garboforever.com

To see the Part 2: The Films of Greta Garbo, just click here.

GARBO PORTRAITS

Happy B-Day, Mickey Mouse

This month, the most famous Walt Disney character, has completed 83 years old. “Steamboat Willie”, the silent short animation movie that introduced Mickey Mouse to the world, was released in 18 September 1928.

In the summer of 1928, around the time Buster Keaton’s latest comedy, “Steamboat Bill, Jr.”, hit theaters, a young animator named Walt Disney was looking for a vehicle to launch his struggling studio’s latest creation, a cartoon mouse by the name of Mickey. On November 18, 1928, the animated short “Steamboat Willie” premiered at New York’s 79th Street Theater. The rest, as they say, is history. Mickey Mouse soon eclipsed Felix the Cat as the movies’ most popular cartoon character, appearing in hundreds of shorts, feature-length films and television shows over the next eighty years, as well as serving as the corporate symbol of the largest media conglomerate in the world.

Disney had only just launched his own studio when he and his chief animator, Ub Iwerks, created a series of animated cartoons centered around a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The series was a smash hit but unfortunately for Disney, distributor Universal Studios wound up owning the character. Universal hired away most of Disney’s animators (all but the loyal Iwerks), wrested control of Oswald from Disney and left his fledgling studio on the verge of bankruptcy. Desperate for a new franchise to fill the gap, Disney and Iwerks quickly came up with an animated mouse they dubbed Mortimer—soon changed to Mickey at the insistence of Disney’s wife, Lillian. After two silent Mickey Mouse shorts, “Plane Crazy” and “The Gallopin’ Gaucho”, failed to find a buyer, Disney produced a short with sound, a loose parody of Keaton’s latest film.
Walt Disney, by the way, was nominated for fifty-nine Oscars, winning twenty-six of them, including four in one year, all records. Ironically, though, he didn’t win for “Steamboat Willie”, one of the most important works of his career—there simply was no category of “cartoon short” at that time.
Trivia: Walt Disney himself provided the voice of Mickey Mouse until 1946.

See “Steamboat Willie” at YouTube. Enjoy.

Jaume de Laiguana: Body and Water (+18)

EN CUERPO Y ÁGUA

These photos were published in Elle magazine in June 2008, taken by photographer Jaume de Laiguana, with the idea to educate everyone to the problems of water on our planet. Ten famous, beautiful and committed women were naked and wet by their love for water.
A work of art that deserves to be viewed and reviewed…

WARNING: Nude Content.

2012 Calendar by Sports Illustrated

The Sports Illustrated magazine releases its 2012 Calendar, presenting models as Brooklyn Decker, Cintia Dicker, Kate Upton, Irina Shayk and others. Save, print and enjoy…