Mario Testino | The Superman Photographer Who Loves Women

Mario Testino, the renowned fashion photographer, produced images for the covers of six major magazines this autumn. Alex BramellMario Testino - 30 Years Behind the Camera NY Times by Suzy Menkes

It’s been a strong year for Mario Testino: six fall fashion covers to his credit, a Testino retrospective traveling the world and a big wedding in London.  

The Peruvian-born maestro behind the international celebrity and glamour lens is summed up by US Vogue editor Anna Wintour: ‘He adores women, adores celebrity — and they adore him right back.’

I think this is Testino’s true gift, one that I consider within a larger context. In an industry that doesn’t always adore women; among photographers — many of whom wish to impose their photographic style on a woman, in the same way that designers view her as a prop —  Mario Testino comes at women differently.

Wintour continues: “I think he really understands our sensibility. He has a style but is not trying to impose. And it is not just the look of fashion and the aesthetic, he also has a business brain.”  Testino’s reputation as a business person is legendary.

Catching the moment is the ‘Mario message,’ says UK stylst Lucinda Chambers. Ms. Chambers says it’s ‘part of a visual curiosity’ that includes his interest in models as more than coat hangers and also a passion for collecting art.

Kate Moss by Mario TestinoTerrence Pepper, curator of photography at the Portrait Museum of London, describes Testino as the ‘John Singer Sargent of our time.’

‘It’s a choice — there are two different sorts of photographer: those obsessed with the technicalities and those obsessed by the subject,” says Mr. Testino. “I ask how I can make them look their best.’

‘Where is her dark side?’ Testino critics demand, insisting that if she is not a coatrack, let’s still show her who’s boss behind the camera.

Exhalting women does not support masculine artistry. Is it not men’s role in life to define how women are portrayed? THEY are the artists, not her.

‘A lot of photographers like models to be blank canvases — but bland girls don’t influence me. I don’t like playing with dolls; I like playing with people,’ says Mr. Testino, who says that it is her character and individuality that makes him ‘obsessed’ with Kate Moss.

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