FASHION

PHOTOGRAPHER-
MARIO TESTINO

BY SAKSHI WADGAYE
MENTOR: CHAITANYA SHETE
FASHION COMMUNICATION
SEM3
BDESF2020037
 WHO IS MARIO TESTINO?
• Mario Testino OBE is widely regarded as one of the most influential
fashion and portrait photographers. His photographs have been
published internationally in magazines such as Vogue, V
Magazine and Vanity Fair. He has contributed to the success of leading
fashion and beauty houses, creating images for brands
from Gucci, Burberry, Versace and Michael Kors to CHANEL, Estée
Lauder and Dolce & Gabbana. In his latest series, A Beautiful World, he
has created emblematic images, transgressing cultures and gender by
documenting different communities around the world.
 FACTS:
• Born: October 30, 1954 (Lima, Peru)
• Nationality: Peru, British
• Education: Testino studied law and economics at the University of Lima and
international affairs at the University of California, San Diego.
• Known for: His evocative portraits and vivid advertisements.
 LIFE:
Born in Lima in 1954 to a traditional Catholic family, remote
from the worlds of fashion and Hollywood, Testino moved
from Peru to London in 1976. It was during apprenticeships
at the studios of John Vickers and Paul Nugent that he made
his first attempts as a photographer, inspired by how
photography masters documented the society of their times.
His career began tentatively with a commission to
photograph a girl’s haircut for British Vogue.
Testino looked to his experience growing up in Peru and his
long teenage summers in Brazil for inspiration, which helped
him to create a unique and personal photographic language.
 HIS STYLE:

• Due to his unique representation of glamour, he has become one of the most
famous and in-demand fashion photographers of his generation. His photos
feature beautiful people, exotic locations and flagrant displays of wealth, a look
highly coveted by the world’s leading brands and publications. He has come to
define fashion as much as he documents it. Sometimes described as “luxury
realism,” Testino’s style is intended to capture his subjects in moments of
engagement or expression, as opposed to the vacant, glassy-eyed aesthetic of
many of his contemporaries.
 WORK
PHOTOGRAPHY:
THANK YOU!