Mario attended the Catholic school Santa Maria Marianistas in his youth, which can be easily attributed to his boyish dream of one day becoming a priest. He was a member of a rather common and traditional middle-class Catholic family and was the oldest one of six children. Mario Testino was born and grew up in Lima, the capital city of Peru located on the country's arid Pacific coast. Mario Testino - Princess Diana (Left) / Madonna (RIght) Growing up in Lima and London Distinguished by an informal engagement with his models, Mario's images seize both the luxury and decadence, two sides of the same contemporary fashion industry coin. With an enthusiastic style which is often referred to as luxury realism, Testino’s technique is intended to capture his subjects in moments of engagement or expression - a fact that differs him from most, if not all, contemporary colleagues. I adore how playful and mischievous the princess looks in these shots, how fun loving she clearly was.A man described as the world's most prolific magazine and fashion trade photographer by the Observer's Aaron Hicklin, Mario Testino is a Peruvian photographer who finds himself at a point of his career where he is able to define fashion as much as he documents it. When Diana showed the photographs to her butler Paul Burrell, she asked, ‘Don’t you think I look a little like Marilyn Monroe?’ I actually think there’s hints of Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Onassis and, most particularly, Princess Grace of Monaco here as well.

Later, she was to recall that the shoot with Mario Testino, an eminently skilled photographer whose flattering and seductive eye is to modern celebrity photography what Madame Vigée Lebrun was to Marie Antoinette and the luminaries of her court, as ‘One of the happiest days of my entire life’. They were destined to act as publicity for the upcoming sale of some of Diana’s dresses at Christies but now have a greater significance as the final formal photographs taken of the princess. This set of photographs was taken in an old school in Battersea in 1997, just five months before the princess’ tragic death. How beautiful are these stunning photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales by Mario Testino? I defy anyone (okay, almost everyone, I try not to think about the fact that there’s a tough crowd out there) not to look at these images and think ‘Oh, wow, she really WAS a beauty.’

Mario testino photo