Pertussis cosmopolitan world of beautiful people, renowned photographer, uninhibited and talented Peruvian jovial desecrates the supermodels of the 90s to create other shortly after ... Mario Testino is one of the key elements of fashion is tod 'hui.
In 1954 in Peru by Mario Testino was born. His father is Italian, his mother half-Irish half-Spanish. He said later that he became was the result of this mixture of cultures: ancestors of different nationalities, studying in an American college, a childhood in the streets of Lima, the Peruvian beaches, girls in bikini, ... Traditional Inca contrasts that mark life and it will capture in his work and his preference for black and white.
Once an adult, he flew to London. England attracted him immediately, as it is different from the country where he comes. With friends, he rented an apartment in an old abandoned hospital and began trying to live the picture. For 25 pounds, he composed the books of young models. Gradually, it takes insurance and approach with his photos and magazines began to make fashion shoots. It was then that some encounters will change his life ...
Madonna, who discovered the work of the photographer in a magazine, contacted him directly and asked him if he would be photographed for an advertising campaign. Despite that the campaign of Versace is programmed with Richard Avedon, the singer has his way. For Mario Testino, who then was a fashion photographer, among others - enjoyed the environment, but far from being a star - it's a real chance.
When Testino gives the proofs of the shooting of Gianni Versace, it is packed and he says he has rarely seen a photographer who can both put the clothes in value. Gianni decides to precede the series of photographs with the inscription "Versace presents Madonna by Testino," something akin to a plebiscite of the Italian designer for this young photographer. Vogue and Vanity Fair host the ad campaign in their pages and became the photographer Testino to be reckoned with.
They are then asked to photograph the Princess Diana. When it comes face to her, he tries to create a relaxed atmosphere and let them play the music he heard before she enters the room. He began to mimic him girls parading on the catwalk, sketch a few dance steps and asked him to dance. It does not seem to have heard, and he repeated his request several times. She smiled and finally to answer it well before its application, but it is not Peru, just English ... The ice is broken, the shoot will be a success. And for the next ten years, Testino will be considered in the heart of English as the preferred photographer Diana.
Mario Testino is asked on all sides and is a fabulous address book. He is so influential that the models are chosen to photograph their careers explode. Testino is one who has had enough time during the reign of the top models who demanded money maddening for some poses, and he decided to seek new faces. He must include Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen, Catherine McNeil ...
If he is a guest star in the cream magazines, Mario Testino has not yet made the master stroke that will go down in history. It will shake the fashion establishment - with Carine Roitfeld at that time is his stylist - providing the necessary weapons to Tom Ford for Gucci event of the year. Under the objective of Mario Testino was born and the Porno Chic, which will make the creative heyday of Texas. A controversial figure, revered, Testino is finally put into orbit ...
Beyond his expertise and his undeniable talent as a photographer, Mario Testino has something extra that makes all love it: it embodies the joy of living. His photo sessions - some are in the theme - according to him are successful only if they are interspersed with peals of laughter.
Furthermore, while some photographers consider models just like pawns, he can not help but connect with the girls with whom he worked. He wants to know, go beyond their plastic and develop their personality, their mood, their ideas. He realized early in his career that his work occupies most of his life, and that if he did not take the fun with the people he photographed, his existence could be extremely boring.
Mario Testino is a photographer who analyzes his work in dissecting the cold, he lives in the moment. That is what fascinates him: to succeed in capturing an expression that did not exist before and after that no longer exists, give the impression that the photos capture a unique moment and fleeting, dressed in nothing or calculated. However, in fashion photography, bias may change in the spirit of the collections.
Sometimes, some have criticized as making too Testino in business, what he says is a fashion photographer foremost a person who portrays the garment, so they make you want to be bought: commercial aspect is clear. However, this does not prevent observers from recognizing the talent of whoever is behind, and to erect his work to the rank of artwork ...
Others say it is too focused on the business it generates, to the detriment of the artistic side of his profession. Mario Testino said that if he chose to be a fashion photographer, is precisely not to be a compartmentalized solitary artist in his studio. And he likes to see his work in magazines for everyone.
This man has captivated everyone who met him, his incredible bonhomie did sell all barriers. Therefore, Mario Testino is the only one who could capture the intimacy of the biggest stars, drop the masks. Hence his latest book, "Let Me In", which is a collection of unpublished photographs draw us into his world, where celebs like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adrien Brody Tom Ford and Nicole Kidman, engaged in natural.
At 60, Mario Testino is a recognized artist courted by Anna Wintour, who has exhibited in many prestigious galleries, which keeps jumping from one plane to another to shoot a particular country, and has reinvigorated good number of fashion houses with completely new style. But he remained a free man, who likes to laugh at everything and loves above all his country, Peru, despite the fact that there remains more vivid its main energy source.
