10/19: A Tribute to Princess Diana at the Mario Testino Museum in Lima, Peru

Barranco, the neighborhood where we stayed, was a mix of bohemian and historic buildings and was founded during the end of the 19th century where wealthy Limenos (residents of Lima) built their summer homes. A couple of blocks away from our hostel was the Mario Testino Museum dedicated to the renowned Peruvian fashion and celebrity photographer. We headed there first thing.

When we entered the museum, a sign said 'that almost no one of style had escaped Mario Testino's gaze, either on the printed page, the advertising billboard or the museum wall. His work is a roll call of our times.' Fashion fascinated Testino from an early age as he was obsessed by beauty, fashion and clothes. He grew up in a society where beauty plays a big role. He remarked that South America is about beauty, sensuality and sexuality. When Testino studied law and business in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he spent his free time on the beach with the outcasts of society. He stated he was always amazed by the perfection of the bodies in Rio. There, he commented, people felt the city’s high heat justified removing their clothes and as a form of freedom of expression.

I had only been aware of Testino because his portraits of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 brought his name to a wider public. His retrospective exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery at the dawn of the new millennium in 2002 in London was a defining monument. The reason was he stretched the parameters of 'portrait' to include fashion pictures.

Testino's photographs heralded fashion but also told his viewers more: about celebrity, fame and wealth. The famous didn't appear remote as Testino made the celebrated seem real and the famous accessible. Fashion photography isn't merely about clothes and how they are paraded and Testino isn't about fashion but more about bringing the people he photographs to life. 

Nicki Minaj for Vogue:

Testino commented that "In photographing celebrities, your mind is made to travel - through their films, their roles, their worlds ..." He added that photographing creative people is never straightforward as they don't possess the skills of models who have learned to show clothes and themselves to their best advantage.

Taylor Swift in 2011:

Justin Bieber in New York in 2015:

Beyonce` for American Vogue in LA in 2015:

In Testino's photo of Karlie Kloss, it felt like we could almost reach out and touch the texture of her chain mail dress.

If you want to enlarge any picture, just click on the image. This piece was interesting reading, I thought. 

The photo of Sienna Miller in Rome comprised part of his travel series.

Blake Lively in Wyoming:

In an adjacent building was a riveting series of photos of mestizas or indigenous women wearing traditional dress in towns near Cusco, Peru. For all that Testino's celebrity and fashion pictures are perfectly posed for today, we read that he is always keenly aware of, and responsive to, history: photographic, fashion and especially his own heritage as a Peruvian. 

In the exhibition titled 'High and Higher' all three themes coincide in his monumental portraits of Peruvians from the mountain region of Cusco. The term itself 'Alta Mode' or haute couture had a double meaning as it meant high fashion while also alluding to Cusco's high altitude. We were particularly interested in the series as we'd be heading to Cusco soon.

Testino traveled to Cusco for many years to record for posterity and for the love of it, too, as these photos portrayed women in folkloric traditional costumes worn during festivals and at significant personal times such as a death in the family or a celebration of marriage.

The carpet in the exhibition hall was inspired by the stone walls at the Sacsayhuaman archaeological site near Cusco, a site we later visited.

It was hard for me not to be very moved by Testino's photos of Princess Diana of Wales and also by his moving written tribute to her. As the daughter of an Englishwoman who became a war bride when she moved to a strange land, Canada, to marry the man she loved who was also of a different faith, my four brothers and I were all brought up with a love for things British and especially for the Royal Family. Growing up in the capital city of Ottawa meant that we took advantage of every opportunity to see the Queen and every member of the royal family on their many visits to Ottawa over the years.

Testino wrote: "When I had the honor to photograph Princess Diana, of course none of us imagined that this sitting would have to be her last. She died tragically in Paris on August 31st, 1997, two months after the images were published in Vanity Fair... You can imagine how difficult this sort of shoot can be. In fact the actual day of photographing Diana was quite the opposite. I was nervous because I didn't really know how to approach her.

 

At first I said to her 'It's really hard for me to call you ma'am because I call my mother ma'am but she's a lot older than you!' But she laughed and said 'just call me Diana.' He went on to say that in order for him to get into contact with the person he was photographing, he needed intimacy. Having in this case just her name gave Testino that intimacy and created a huge difference as it made him feel that Diana was putting herself in his hands and trusted him a hundred percent.

Testino had just one day to photograph Diana for Vanity Fair. His goal was to make her look as natural as possible, without jewels, without shoes, with a simple hairdo and subtle make up that enhanced her natural beauty. He wrote that his aim was wanting the feeling 'that you were alone with Diana without formality, that there was nothing between you and her when you looked at the pictures. After the pictures were edited, they were sent to Diana for her approval. She told Testino that her sons told her they were the likeness of her that they had seen. 

That was an amazing compliment because Testino hadn't known her and he was just trying to grasp something on the spur of the moment. 'I guess there are some people that you meet in life, and you just hit it off with them. And that was just what happened on that day - she was a sensitive, beautiful, kind person. I am so privileged to have been able to document her.'

This dress, designed by Versace, was worn by Diana in Testino's cover for Vanity Fair in July, 1997. Donatella Versace recreated the dress for the museum.

Our visit to the Museo Mario Testino or MATE had been an eye-opening experience into a world of art I had known nothing about previously. What made it so special for me was being able to read Testino's own comments that provided insights for me into his world as a fashion and celebrity photographer. 

Next post: A visit to the century-old Museo Pedro de Osma mansion almost next door.

Posted on December 8th, 2017, from Iguazu Falls, Argentina.