Atlantica - 01.05.2002, Page 12

When Peruvian-born photographer Mario Testino first arrived in
London in the late ‘70s to launch his career as a fashion pho-
tographer, he was severely handicapped by the fact that he did-
n’t have a clue how to work with light, one of photography’s
most basic elements. His first attempts at fashion photography
received less than lukewarm responses from the finicky editors
of magazines like British Vogue, but through sheer determina-
tion, perseverance and passion, Testino’s career has flourished,
and today the National Portrait Gallery in London is celebrating
his work with a large retrospective of some of his most memo-
rable photographs.
Testino has, for the last 20 years or so, photographed anyone
who’s anything in the fashion industry, and his subjects have
ranged from modern day icons such as Madonna and Kate
Moss, Hollywood movie stars like Catherine Zeta Jones, Keanu
Reeves and Gwyneth Paltrow, to today’s English aristocrats and
royalty. Testino is the photographer responsible for the glam-
orous and widely published photos of the late Princess Diana,
taken for the American magazine Vanity Fair just before her
untimely death in August 1997, where he captured a more
relaxed, sensual and happy Diana than we were previously used
to seeing. Testino is also the photographer behind the lens in
successful advertising campaigns for
companies such as Gucci and the
recently re-vamped Burberrys. Testino
subjects tend to ooze charm, sexuality
and wealth way beyond our wildest
dreams, and show the viewer a tantalis-
ing glimpse of a world exclusive but to
the privileged few. A definite must-see.
10 A T L A N T I C A
Funny Old Word: Bohemian
Ah, the bohemian lifestyle. Those of us that show up for the daily grind of a nine-to-
five job, fill with envy upon spotting a peripatetic slacker who renews his passport
every other year because it’s overflowing with stamps.
Growing one’s hair, hanging out in coffee shops and living a life of leisure that involves
art galleries, movies and travel: How do they do it?
While the key to a successful bohemian lifestyle remains a mystery, the word, accord-
ing to Oxford, stems from the middle 19th century. The French bohémien refers to
‘gypsy’, “because gypsies were thought to come from Bohemia, or because they per-
haps entered the West through Bohemia”. (For those geography flunkies in the audi-
ence, Bohemia is the region forming the western part of what is now the Czech
Republic.)
So when you see a person with “informal and unconventional social habits, especial-
ly an artist or writer” (hey, that’s me), call them a ‘boho’, which is the informal term for
bohemian. Or, politely ask that person with the gypsy soul to share their trust fund. EWIL
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MARIO TESTINO
Mario Testino:
Portraits at
the National Portrait Gallery
until 4 June. Gwyneth Paltrow Kate Moss
009-023 ATL302 Airmail 19.4.2002 16:46 Page 10