11th oct 2010 Mario Testino

Wow I've been busy researching famous photographers, and I've come across Mario Testino, His dad is Italian and his mom is Irish, He was born in 1954 in Lima, Peru, He came to London in 1976, Took a flat in an abandoned hospital near Trafalgar square, Its there he started selling portfolios for £25 to wanna be models, He is best known for his highly polished, exoticaly bright ad campaigns -
(Burberry, Gucci, Zara, Michael kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Estee lauder, Valentino and Versace..)
And his exquisitely styled photographs of the couture scene all of which carry a deceptive air of nonchalance, And he has done many portraits of people like, Madonna, Kate Moss, Kim Basinger, Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Janet Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Catherine Zeta-Jones, And the late Diana (Princess of wales) and also both of her sons, With Mario still living in London he continues to photograph the Royal family, Mario has also published 9 books of his work and edited one other dedicated to contemporary art and artists from his native Lima, Peru,
But its Mario's portraits that i really like most of all, it shows there all relaxed in front of the camera and Mario, so for him to get this across on the photographs he must of built up some sort of trust and gained there confidence, I just love the fact they all look very relaxed and natural, and getting up very close to shoot them, some nice shadows over part of the faces and eyes, chopping some of the head off but still making it all look very interesting and some black and white photographs giving it more grain and more existing to look at.... I just think hes great... Well done Mario, http://mariotestino.com/