Famous+Photographer

Mario Testino

Give some historical background on their life:

Mario Testino was born in Lima Peru on October 30th 1954. Mario was the eldest son of eleven children in his family. Mario's dad was Italian and his mom was Irish. Before wanting to become a photographer he wanted to be a priest and he was not popular in school. Mario studied economics at the Universidad del Pacifico and went to 4 other universities before deciding to be a photographer. Mario liked fashion but was not talented in drawing or design, so photography was his passion. Mario's father was very encouraging towards his photography career. In 1976 Mario decided to study photography in London. He moved to London at age 22 and sold photo portfolios to models for money including make up and hair. Mario did not have much income and made his living by working as a waiter. He would take photographs of his co-workoers at work. When Mario died his hair pink, it was a way to get noticed as a photographer.The National Portrait Gallery in London in 2002, gave mario an exhibition called "Portraits" that became the most successful exhibit. Over four years "Portraits" toured to Milan, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Mexico City and Lima.

Describe their influences:

Mario testino has helped various charity organizations and had contributed greatly to society. He has helped different organizations like the Elton John Aids Foundation, Aid for Aids, Life Ball, Sargent Cancer Care, the Naked Heart Foundation, amfAR, and Women to Women. Mario was praised for his charity work in 2008 getting the Hero Award by Aid for Aids. Mario also became the first man to get the Commitment Award from the charity Women Together. Mario has traveled to Peru with Save The Children to visit a damaged clinic. Mario provided one portrait to the clinic and the clinic was completely funded back to its original state after being hit by an earthquake.

Describe their style(major genre) :

Mario testino's major genre is fashion. Mario is one most popular fashion photographers in the fashion industry. Mario's work is well know around the world and has work in magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair and V. Mario has photographs in the fashion houses such as Versace, Gucci, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana, Salvatore Ferragamo, Estee Lauder, Hugo Boss, Miu Miu, Shiseido, and Michael Kors. Mario has published nine books of his work. Mario has many thriving exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the world. Mario has shot many famous celebrities like Madonna, Sienna Miller, Angelina Jolie, Prince William and Queen Rania of Jordan.

What design elements are aparent? Why are they a good representation of this photographers work? Describe the use of light.



The design element that is present in this photo is colour contrast. The green scarf and red shirt contrast against the girls skin. This is a good representation of Mario's work because he is wanting to sell either the scarf or the shirt for a fashion magazine with his photography. The lighting in the photo comes from the top right corner of the photo and it reflecting against the girls skin.

The design elements that are present in this photo are, triangles because of the hands in the pockets of the pants, balance because the subject is in the center of the photo, and diagonals because of the doorway in the background. This is a good representation of Mario's work because he has shot many celebrities including Cameron Diaz in this photo. The lighting is throughout the entire photo making the picture very bright.



The design elements that are present in this photo are colour contrast, the rule of thirds, triangles, diagonals, and planes & depth levels. This is a good representation of Mario's work because he is shooting this picture for a fashion magazine. The lighting is used from the natural light outside while there could be artificial light in the picture too.



The design elements that are present in the photograph are element relationship, colour contrast, rule of thirds, balance, and direction. This is a good representation of Mario's work because he taking a picture for D&G which is a famous clothes store he usually photographs. The lighting is coming naturally from the sun and is distributed throughout the photo.



The design elements that are present in this photo are element relationship, colour contrast, triangles, diagonals and balance. This is a good representation of Mario's work because he is shooting for another famous brand name "Versace" which he focuses on in his career. The lighting is throughout the entire photo coming from an artificial light.