A biography for Mario Testinohasn’t been written yet.
“There's a particular style that is very Peru that you don't see anywhere else; it's got so many different imprints. When you mix Incan minimalism with the heavy, ornate Spanish Baroque, it is very interesting.”
“I said to my mother, 'When you see my name in 'Vogue,' I will have arrived.'”
“Even someone as photographed and aware of the camera as members of the royal family needs to feel completely comfortable if they are to look their best.”
“It's a choice - there are two different sorts of photographer: those obsessed with the technicalities and those obsessed by the subject.”
“My favourite words are possibilities, opportunities and curiosity. I think if you are curious, you create opportunities, and then if you open the doors, you create possibilities.”
“Some of my friends say that I only talk about myself. But it is funny: my house is covered in art but with nothing of my own, and when I'm working, I'm only thinking about what the client wants. So I don't see it that way, but maybe it's true. I mean, they are my friends.”
“My pictures are my eyes. I photograph what I see - and what I want to see.”
“I am obsessed with people and how to make them look their best.”
“I am obsessed by people. Usually I try to get the girl out of the model instead of the model out of the girl.”
“I studied law, economy, international relations, communications, in order to find what I would do. It's the hardest thing, being 17 and trying to find what to do in life. You've explored so little. I'm lucky: My parents let me explore.”
“Some people strive for perfection, but I often find perfection boring.”
“Being Peruvian means to come from the farthest place possible to get to Europe. Peru is the land of the Incas. It was the capital of South America; it was where the Spanish founded their empire and took over the Inca Empire and made it into a colony of Spain.”
“England gave me a chance. It's a very individual country where people have a personal style; they don't all follow a trend. The subtlety and wit of England is incredible, and they are very creative.”
“I don't like a tormented photograph. Something attracts you in them, but the attraction isn't because she has a pot on her head or tonnes of make-up and weird clothes and weird everything.”
“I have become aware on my travels that when a country loses the connection between its history and its traditional dress, something truly precious is lost.”