Mario Testino

113

Mario Testino : biography

30 October 1954 –

MATE

2012 will bring the realisation of Testino’s next project, MATE, an Association in his home of Lima, PERU, his country of origin, that carries his name with a mission to promote culture to both local and international audiences through artistic programmes.

Personal life

Testino has been honored for his contributions to many charitable causes and organizations, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Testino has been lauded with a number of awards and recognitions for his achievements and charitable work, including a Doctor Emeritus from the University of the Arts, London, the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award, the Medalha Tiradentes from the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the Grand Cross Order of Merit from the city of Lima, Peru. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 2011.http://www.rps.org/annual-awards/Annual-Awards-2011

In his role as a Save the Children ambassador he helped to raise funds to build the El Salvador Clinic in the Pueblo Nuevo District, Chincha, in his native Peru. The clinic was built for children with Tuberculosis in the area badly affected by the devastating earthquake, which hit the coast of Peru in August 2007. It measured 8 on the Richter scale and the Pueblo Nuevo District was one of the hardest-hit areas in the province, with almost 100,000 houses destroyed and 1,200 schools damaged. The El Salvador clinic was entirely funded from the sale of a single print from Mario Testino’s iconic portraits of Princess Diana. He has also helped to raise money to build a clinic in a Moscow children’s hospital specialising in cancer. It is a cause close to his heart since his brother died from the disease at the age of 10. Testino does not consider himself a saint, though he says, "But doing these charitable things has made me feel that I have got some of the priestly instinct back. I know people who have everything and all they do is complain and bicker. Give off negative energy. When you try and do something positive it helps others but also makes you feel better about yourself." He auctioned one of his prints of Diana for £100,000.

In 2008 Testino donated a sitting at Elton John’s White Tie and Tiara Ball. It went for a staggering £800,000, bought by a Ukrainian businessman. The ball raised funds for AIDS victims, another charity which is close to his heart.

In July 2012 he is opening his first not-for-profit association in Barranco, Lima. The association has been named ‘MATE’ and will act as a dynamic platform for Peruvian art and will hold a permanent exhibition of his works.

Testino openly identifies as pansexual.