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Photographer Mario Testino has contributed to the fame and international celebrity of figures such as Madonna, Giselle Bundchen, Kate Moss, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Nicole Kidman.

Recently he took the engagement photos of Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton, both 28.

His photographic oeuvre has achieved such recognition that the Peruvian artist is now exhibiting his work during 2010 at the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, one of the world’s great art museums.

Testino is known for his work in fashion photography, an area often considered superficial — a description he rejects.

“It upsets me that fashion photography has for years been considered superfluous,” he said.

He explained that he began collecting contemporary art years ago and observed just how many artists have taken ideas from his own work and that of other photographers.

That made him realize, Testino said, that fashion photography is perhaps the purest form of collaborative art.

“It is taken to a level where the person’s creativity can be seen, and not only that of the photographer, also the designer, the hair stylist, the makeup artist. It is a collective work,” he said.

“Fashion has also been considered something superfluous, but in the end it is a person’s essential form of expression.

“Each one of us can define himself or herself within a society by the way in which he or she dresses, and in my opinion there is nothing superfluous in that. On the contrary, it is something very profound in each of us.”

The first time Testino exhibited his work in a museum, at the National Gallery in London, he presented his portraits.

For the Madrid show, called “All or Nothing,” he chose about 50 works combining fashion photographs and nudes.

The 55-year-old artist said that the Thyssen Bornemisza exhibition (set to run until Jan. 9, 2011) was the “best gift” he could receive to celebrate his 30-year career in photography.

It has allowed him to highlight other aspects of his work.

“I am interested in high fashion because of its elegance, its precision, its fantasy, because it is a world out of reach; just as I am interested in nudes because of their truth and simplicity. These are things that I am interested in in my own life,” he said.

Born in Lima, Testino began working in photography in the 1980s by mere chance.

Some of the most attractive women in the world have posed for him, among them Demi Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Anniston and Claudia Schiffer.

Testino has also photographed cultural icons like Diana, Princess of Wales, and the “Iron Lady,” former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

He believes that “beauty in itself is of little interest. I try to bring out the beauty that comes from inside, which is what makes the difference between one model and another. I hope that that can always be seen in my work.”

Perhaps this is the element that distinguishes Testino from other great fashion photographers such as Richard Avedon or Helmut Newton, since he does not treat models like empty canvasses, and tries to draw them into his own life.

“The image itself does not satisfy my daily needs. Rather it is the person whom I am with who determines whether my life is interesting,” he said.

In this regard, Testino said that one of the people who has most surprised him is British model Kate Moss.

This year the Peruvian photographer published a book of her photographs that was a hit in the world of fashion photography.

“She really is one of the persons who have influenced me the most. Not only because of her beauty, but because of her attitude to life, her energy, her curiosity, her humour,” Testino said.

“She has something that is incredible, because we live in a world in which there are thousands and thousands of models, but most cannot reach that point where few girls go.

"I would say she is a leader in that sense, the individuality of the person.”

Testino also gave his opinion about touch-ups, whether in photography or plastic surgery. Whether airbrushing or photoshopping, touch-ups have “always existed,” he said.

“The problem lies not with the artist but rather in how the modification is perceived by the person viewing the image. Touch-ups allow us that extra touch which allows us to dream,” he said.


Deutsche Presse-Agentur