Climbers Against Cancer 2014 Calendar

January 26, 2015 by Caroline

You loved it, hated it or missed it. When CAC approached me to shoot the 2014 calendar, I had no idea it would be so controversial. One morning, I woke up to over 400 Facebook posts about the calendar, mostly negative. All publicity is good publicity, right?

Sierra Blair-Coyle, CAC 2014 calendar

As the photographer, the calendar presented a different set of challenges. I had 14 women, a trailer and a few hours to shoot. How could I quickly and accurately capture the personality of each woman?

Alex Puccio, CAC 2014 calendar

All the international competitors were in Boulder for the World Cup. We parked the trailer by The Spot and the girls came over in 15 minute increments. They did their own hair, make-up and wardrobe. Akiyo, fresh off a flight from Tokyo, came straight from the airport to the shoot.

Akiyo Noguchi, CAC 2014 calendar

It was a 50’s pin-up theme and the girls wanted to look hot but not slutty. And because they are athletes, not models, most were more comfortable climbing in front of a crowd than posing one-on-one for the camera. As usual, in the best images, I wasn’t forcing it.

Kati Hetrick, CAC 2014 calendar

So for all the haters out there, thank you. I welcome the conversation. It’s important. To be clear, the calendar was a creative project to raise money for cancer research. That’s it. I don’t advocate the exploitation of women.

Angie Payne, CAC 2014 calendar

A huge thanks to everyone who supported this collaborative effort – it was a blast! Especially, John Ellison, founder of CAC, Shauna Coxsey, for her cat-herding abilities, and all of the incredible athletes who took the time to work on this project.