Front Row Back Stage

by Mario Testino (Photographer)

On and off the catwalk, Mario Testino is one of the great fashion photographers, and his life's work is sampled here, with plentiful backstage shots from Lacroix, Saint Laurent, Dior, Gucci, Givenchy, Chanel, Versace, and Galliano, among many others.

Genres: Fashion, Photography, Art and Photography

132 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

Mario Testino (born on October 30, 1954 in Lima) is a Peruvian fashion photographer. His work has been featured in magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. His career highpoint came when he was chosen by Princess Diana for her Vanity Fair photoshoot in 1997. Testino has been regularly employed by the British royal family ever since.

Reviews

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

How much do I love a well put together fashion photography book? Let me count the ways! Okay, I’m not actually going to count, because doing maths is lame and I have a liberal arts degree for a reason… But this book was a glorious entré into the fashion world, as portrayed through Mario Testino’s lens. Like the title implies, Testino takes us from the front row (an enviable position to be in) of many of the world’s most important fashion shows to back stage (arguably an even better position to be in), capturing moments in time in his signature style of photography. Testino’s use of lighting, movement, and drama makes his work painterly in nature, and focuses more on evoking a feeling than portraying the clothing or people with any sense of accuracy – a technique that may annoy the fashion historian in me (who wants to see the clothing in overly accurate detail), but which my artistic side absolutely adores for their unexpected emotive quality. The resulting images are luscious, and even in their most blurred and frantic form tell far more of a story than expected from what should be simple depictions of people in clothing. But that’s the truth behind fashion, isn’t it? When done well, fashion is a performance; it’s a narrative; it’s an emotion; and most importantly: it’s art.