Lights, Camera, OBE

Earlier this week, all eyes were on the talented, accomplished photographer, Mario Testino. After a long and successful career, which is still going strong, photographing the Royal Family and more, the Peruvian photographer was awarded an OBE as a recognition of his loyal relationship with the camera, achievements and skill in the field.

Mario has always had a keen eye for fashion. With an Italian father and a mother with both Irish and Spanish descents, Mario grew up surrounded by the beauties and different cultures of the world. His mother, despite being a devoted housewife, was a women of demure glamour, which inevitably had a large influence of Mario’s appreciation for the fashion industry and a woman’s sense of style. Perhaps the first sign of Mario’s indulgence in eccentricity and fashion was when he first moved to London with a camera and pink hair – from then on it was a set of stepping stones to success.

“My pictures are my eyes” – Mario Testino

Some of his most famous photographs have captured the natural elegance that shines from the likes of Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, Naomi Campbell, Princess Diana and Kate Middleton. These women, who we are already green with envy over, are taken to a new height of beautiful in his images. His trademark is to capture them at their absolute best. He is a man who is often described as having a way with the camera, an outlook that is fresh with vitality, and a bond with whomever is his subject to enable him to capture both staged and candid photos that are breathtakingly brilliant. For this and many other reasons, Mario has shot numerous Vogue Covers which will forever resonate in British history.

“Testino can make you look better than you could hope” – Alexandra Shulman, Editor of British Vogue

To feed his hunger for creativity and to encapsulate and illustrate his vision of the world even more, Mario created a capsule collection of bags, kaftans and jewellery earlier this year. The collection was inspired by the natural surroundings and people of his native country, Peru and was sold exclusively at Net-A-Porter.com. To top it off, a percentage of all the sales were gifted to a charity based in his birth town Lima. The man just doesn’t fail to impress.

Here at Semple we are huge fans of Mario’s work and the awe we felt after seeing him talk at the Vogue Festival  last Spring is still beaming strong. Therefore we wish we could see the Peruvian stallion collect his OBE at Buckingham Palace, but instead, we will be looking online eagerly to see him receive his award from the High Commissioner in Peru.

By Marni Banks