media

1. Photographer research: Mario Testino
Mario Testino was born in Lima in 1954 to a tradition
catholic family, in 1976 Testino moved from Peru to London
where he started his photography career at the studios of
John Victors and Paul Nugent. At the studios, he was inspired
by how other photographers document society of their time.
His first professional photograph was for British Vogue of a
hairstylist Lucinda Chambers.
In the early nineties, Testinos inspiration also grew from Peru in his early teenage years
spent in Brazil. This helped him create a unique and personal photographic language.
Mario is now known for “Artistic vocabulary that transgresses genders, mixes ethnicity,
masculinity and femininity and suggest sensuality rather than sexuality” Mario Testino
is now the most influential a fashion and portrait photographer of our times, his
photography has been published internationally in magazines such as Vogue, V
magazine and Vanity Fair. In 2002, the Galleries portrait exhibition attracted more
visitors than any other shows in the museum history at the time. Today, eighteen
exhibitions and more than sixteenbooks have been published on his work which has
inspired millions.
Mario’s most celebrated work of all times is the photographs of Dianna, Princess of
Wales in commission to vanity fair in 1997. Mario says, “(Dianne) opened a door for me
because I then started
photographing the royal
families of Europe
extensively... this brings out
my love for tradition, for a
way of showing family and the
longevity of people
“Playfully he cast his eyeson the cool blonde seated on the couch, wondering what it would take
to make her melt. He wanted her to laugh. He wanted her to roll around in her couture silks,
right there on that big, gleaming boat ofa sofa—and laugh” The simplicity ofthe setting in this
photoshoot emphasises the intimacy between the Princess Diana, photographer and the viewer.
Looking at these imagesit seems that, Mario wanted to bring out humanity in Diana and
capture the intimate moment that was shared. This way, the viewer is able to offer new
perspective ofthe subject through intimacy. The use ofmidshots indicates the focus on the
subject and contributes to the relationship that is being created. The use ofthis, gives the viewer
more depth in their personal view.

2. TowelSeries:
The Towel Series began when he noticed Kate moss sitting down in a white robe and a
big towel wrapped around her head during a shoot. Testino realised that girls and boys
should be able to have the freedom at being able to express themselves in how they wear
towels as there is no way oh how to. Testino said, “you can do anything you want…wear
it how you want. The classy black and white photographs have become a staple item
Testino’s Instagram feed. Yet again, the use of all monotone photos, emphasises a very
dramatic image of the models.