Last week, when photos by famed photographer Annie Liebovitz鈥檚 2016 calendar for Pirelli were released, a tornado of excitement centred around a picture of comedienne Amy Schumer. She is seen posing in nothing more than underwear, stilettos and with, well, what looks to be her morning takeout coffee.
The calendar, long known for featuring supermodels and the artistry of such renowned male fashion and beauty photographers as Bruce Weber and Herb Ritts, did an about-face this year.聽
For this calendar, Pirelli enlisted Liebovitz, who鈥檚 known for her honest take on subjects 鈥� whether they are celebrities or not. She shot what she called 鈥渞eal women鈥� such as Serena Williams, singer Patti Smith and Yoko Ono, each posing in ways they felt powerful and comfortable, according to the Associated Press in London. The photos were printed entirely un-retouched.聽
鈥淏eautiful, gross, strong, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, sexy, disgusting, flawless, woman. Thank you Annie Leibovitz,鈥� wrote Schumer on social media the day the photos came out, presumably preempting any criticism. Plenty followed, of course, but the cheerleaders quickly drowned out ignorant comments from Internet trolls extolling the one-dimensional ideal that healthy eating plus exercise equals a healthy body. Sure, Schumer has a few small rolls on her tummy. Who are we to say she鈥檚 not healthy? Only when she makes her medical records public will we know.
Praise for Schumer鈥檚 image was fast and furious; men and women alike commended Schumer for her courage. Some called her brave, some called her fierce, and many, many others called her sexy. One fellow wrote, 鈥淣o cream, no sugar necessary 鈥� I鈥檒l take my Amy straight up!鈥�
My, how things have changed.
I鈥檓 thrilled when I see photos of women in the media who represent more than the narrow, superficial and photoshopped version of 鈥渂eautiful鈥� women that has been shoved down our throats since鈥� well, ever since I can remember.
Admittedly, Weber鈥檚 work was pinned to my own bedroom walls as a teenager in the 1980s. He was the go-to fashion shooter for the likes of Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, and for a girl obsessed with design in all its forms, I couldn鈥檛 peel myself away from the sleek images of svelte models whose celebrity over the years escalated as they became more and more emaciated.
It wasn鈥檛 that I lived my teen years with a whimsical desire to simply look like these models, it was what I understood society demanded of me. The closest thing I saw of a published photo like the one Liebovitz shot of Schumer was in the before picture of a diet aid advertisement.
And so, at the age of 15, when my body quite closely resembled that of the Trainwreck star, I dug myself even deeper into the hole of weight preoccupation and disordered eating that lasted for years. I was punishing my then strong and healthy body with diet pills, cycles of binging and purging and compulsive exercise, all in an effort to attain an ideal perpetuated not only by glossy magazines but media in all its forms.
It took me close to three decades to let go of the stories I shaped around my body and my worth. I鈥檓 grateful that my daughters are growing up in a time where bodies of varying shapes and sizes are not just accepted, but celebrated. I鈥檓 grateful that there are strong women out there today 鈥� on both sides of the lens 鈥� willing to show us that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
And at the end of the day, what did Schumer have to say about the buzz around her risqu茅 and revealing photo? 鈥淚 never felt more lovely.鈥澛�
To which Leibovitz quipped: 鈥淪he got the whole concept completely.鈥�
Bless her stilettos for doing so. I suspect baristas everywhere have been hopping since this shot was released. Evidently, there are a lot of men (and women) ordering up a lot more lattes this week because of it. 聽
