The greatest of the greats
A photographer’s greatest photo has been judged so by critics, awards juries, the media, the world at large. These greatest photos may have won the world’s most prestigious awards; been written about, talked about, exhibited…revered. There is no doubt that they are all great photos. The photo that a great photographer deems to be their greatest may be something quite different, however. Behind it will be a story that means the world to them.
Mario Testino – Manúh Rubi
Mario Testino’s most famous photo is, without question, his portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, which he shot in 1997. Christie’s had put up for auction 79 of Diana’s gowns and British fashion and art journalist, Meredith Etherington-Smith, who was helping to organise the event, decided that she should be photographed for Vogue and Vanity Fair. “Testino portrayed an arresting beauty who exuded sex appeal — but also, it seemed, an intense longing for love. The photographs caused a sensation,” noted arts journalist, Cristina Odone. That photo became Testino’s entrée to royal commissions. In 2010, William, Duke of Cambridge, asked Testino to shoot the official photograph to mark his engagement to Kate Middleton. This photo was famous for capturing a rare and unstaged moment. It was taken after the shoot. Testino had taken a number of photos, but wasn’t entirely satisfied. Just as the couple were about to leave, they suddenly hugged in front of a radiator. Testino had the perspicacity to take that photo. Its display of spontaneous emotion delighted everyone, including the young royals. It was the photo that was published globally.
Testino has photographed music “royalty”, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga; film stars, Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Zeta-Jones; and supermodels, Kate Moss, Adriana Lima, and Claudia Schiffer. His work for Gucci is legendary, helped in no small part by his 2003 photograph of model, Louise Pedersen, in which she is holding her underwear aside to expose “G” (for Gucci) shaved into her pubic hair, while a man kneels in front of her. His photo of an almost-nude Justin Bieber for his ongoing, , caused and magazines. In 1995, he photographed an almost makeup-free Madonna for a Versace campaign, a wildly radical idea in an era of “perfectly polished” fashion.
