Today I went to the In Your Face exhibit by Mario Testino, at the Museum of Fine Arts. Mario Testino is a Peruvian fashion photographer. His work has been featured in magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. His career highpoint came when he was chosen by Princess Diana for her Vanity Fair photoshoot in 1997. Wikipedia
The Photographs were larger than life. They were big, bright and provocative.
The large color photographs were commercial, over the top, photo shoots for various magazines. Dispersed among the large color photographs were some small black and whites. I think the bulk of them looked like they were his personal “party” candids.
At the end of the exhibit my daughter and I were talking about which one we liked the best. I was surprised we both liked the same one of Courtney Love. The photograph is so vidid in person. Her green eyes almost pop out of the picture. The way her make up was applied, suggested (to me) that she could have just been in a fight. It is sandwiched between a small black and white head shot of an angelic looking Emma Watson, and a candid party shot. The comparison between these two pictures is outstanding, Courtney looks so fragile and vulnerable, while the other 2 look almost perfect. I don’t know what he does to elicit and capture that moment, but, something about all of them have a special feeling.
All these pictures were taken with my iPhone, so I must apologize for the poor quality. If you’re in Boston in the near future (exhibit ends Febrarury 3), I would recommend a visit to the MFA. There are also some photographs of Royals on another floor. I was asked to put my phone away, hence no pictures.
Here is a link to the New York Times review. You can click on any picture to see it full screen if you’d like.
behind my LENS 
Sounds very interesting. Go check out the photo exhibit at Newton main library – I think you’ll like them.
Sent from my iPhone
I was going to submit something, but there was too much paper work….
Thanks for letting me know..Happy New YEAR!
It looks like a wonderful exhibit, and a wonderful way to spend the afternoon with your daughter. I like how they arranged the photographs over the dark backdrop, it really made them pop. You were lucky to snap a few shots while you could!
We had a nice day, and the dark room really did offset the photographs!
All in all a good day 🙂
He is one of my favorite photographers! When looking for photo credits in Vogue, the photos I am most drawn to are usually by Mario or Annie Leibovitz
me too 🙂