Testino Tribute

A long long time ago in my 20’s I copied photographs made by some of my favorite photographers. I was obsessive in terms of reproducing them exactly down to minute details, point of view, feel, expression. I was also obsessive in copying almost every photograph I’d seen made by them. I didn’t do this to pretend they were mine. This was how I learned. I needed to figure out all of the bits and pieces, the visual ingredients that made those photographs that spoke to me.

For the first time in decades I decided to do that again. This time around it’s not attempting to ape every aspect of any particular photo, it’s the borrowing of a brilliant simplicity that Mario Testino has been doing for years in terms of wardrobe: White towels and/or robes. If pressed I would imagine that the first one he ever did was sort of an accident, an out-take, something that just happened in the spur of the moment rather than a big thought-out production. Since then he’s continued this series and expanded it. Sometimes he uses a consistent location or a consistent lighting treatment for a while, and other times not so much. The consistentcy over the course of time is with those simple props/wardrobe.

The more I photograph women, the less it is about transformation. Women are beautiful. All that really matters is enhancing that.Mario Testino

In a way I started down this road a week or so also by accident. I was struggling to find a sequence that helped squeeze way too much information into a three hour introduction to beauty workshop. Without boring everyone with details — the issue was hair and make-up change ups. In one setup I was going to slick back the model’s hair. The problem was for the next setup that look was not at all appropriate. Having the stylist do another hair and makeup look after that would seriously impinge on the allotted time. In fact it was impossible. Bingo, I’ll do that Testino towel thing and change the vibe completely.

While I was doing a dry run of that upcoming workshop and making a few photographs with a friend something else occured to me. This was fun, simple to setup, and completely location/gear independent if I so choose. I decided that I’d do a few more with another subject, and then another that week. It takes almost no time and no effort if I’m already with someone doing something else, why not. I’ll probably continue this series (with regular people I happen to be with as opposed to celebrities and super-models) as a tribute and an excercise in appriciating and re-connecting with the value of simplicity. Simple is good.

More soon.