Mario Testino
Mario Testino
Mario Testino OBEis a Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer. His work has featured internationally in magazines such as Vogue, V Magazine, Vanity Fair and GQ. He has also created images for brands such as Gucci, Burberry, Versace, Michael Kors, Chanel, Estée Lauder and Lancôme...
NationalityPeruvian
ProfessionPhotographer
Date of Birth30 October 1954
CityLima, Peru
CountryPeru
asked entire famous happened life photograph princess pushed
I find that my entire life has come to me, and things happened without me planning them. You know, I never asked to photograph Princess Diana, and that made me more famous than I wanted. I never asked to photograph Madonna, and that pushed me to another level. There are things that just take you into the limelight.
explored hardest life order studied trying
I studied law, economy, international relations, communications, in order to find what I would do. It's the hardest thing, being 17 and trying to find what to do in life. You've explored so little. I'm lucky: My parents let me explore.
bored discovered fresh impressed kate life models stop usual
At the end of the '90s, I was very bored with the usual models, so I discovered a new generation that impressed me with their fresh look. I still keep working with models like Gisele Bundchen and Kate Moss, and I am still looking for new, interesting faces. Life is about discovery, and you should never stop searching.
educated education life rude sure
Charm, I think, is education, really, no? I was educated to be nice to everybody. If you want to be rude and mean, I'm sure your life isn't that nice.
came celebrate english group grunge life south
Grunge came from a group of English photographers, and they were documenting their own reality... I'm South American - we celebrate life.
believed country trained
England is the country where I learned my profession. They are the ones that trained me, they are the ones that believed in me.
chance country england follow gave individual people personal subtlety wit
England gave me a chance. It's a very individual country where people have a personal style; they don't all follow a trend. The subtlety and wit of England is incredible, and they are very creative.
aware best camera family members needs royal
Even someone as photographed and aware of the camera as members of the royal family needs to feel completely comfortable if they are to look their best.
affinity buy clothes hang older style time whenever women year
I've always had an affinity with women. It probably started with my mother when I was young, but it was intensified by my sister, Elena, who is one year older than me. I used to hang out with her all the time, and whenever I travelled, I used to buy her clothes and style her.
beginning boy british cecil grandeur looked norman peru represent seemed society suddenly vanished wonderful work
At the beginning of my career, as a boy from Peru in London, suddenly discovering British culture and society, I looked so much at the work of the photographers Cecil Beaton and Norman Parkinson, which seemed to represent a wonderful vanished grandeur of my new country.
bring capture order photograph somebody trying women
I am trying to capture the women I photograph at their happiest. That is when they look their most beautiful. But I do understand that you have to make somebody feel completely comfortable in order to bring that out.
aware connection country history loses precious travels truly
I have become aware on my travels that when a country loses the connection between its history and its traditional dress, something truly precious is lost.
people
You have to be you. You can't be anybody else. If you speak loudly, and people tell you to speak quietly, you can do it for a little bit, but loud people are loud, and people who are not, are not.
collection event god graduate john oh shows
Oh my God, the graduate shows in London are so important! I still remember going to see John Galliano's graduate collection - that was an event I'll never forget.