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| Mario Testino © 2005-2013 PerezHilton.com |
Earlier this year, I decided to put my Simmons ID to good
use and check out the Museum of Fine Arts, free of charge. The special exhibit
at the time was “Mario Testino: In Your Face.” Back then, I had no idea who
Mario Testino was. All I knew was that he was a photographer and the exhibit
showcased some of his photographs. It didn’t take long for me to realize why
his exhibit was called “In Your Face.” It was.
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Mario Testino & Art Partner
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Mario Testino is a fashion and celebrity photographer
originally from Peru. He has worked for Vogue and Vanity Fair, and has
photographed celebrities like Madonna, Halle Berry, Kate Moss, David Beckham,
Kiera Knightly, and even Britain’s royal family. In 1997, he was chosen by
Princess Diana herself to be her photographer for her Vanity Fair fashion
shoot. He was took the official engagement photos for Prince William and Kate
Middleton. He is in the “In” crowd.
“In Your Face” was a showcase of pictures from various photo
shoots, with the pictures blown up to larger-than-poster-sized proportions. And
like the title suggests, not all the photographs were demure. According to a
friend who works at the MFA, the exhibit caused quite a few complaints from
museum-goers. They didn’t think the photographs constituted “art;” rather, it
was more like pornography. This is not a new angle for fashion photography. In
her 1979 book “The History of Fashion Photography,” Nancy Hall-Duncan points
out this trend: “In fact, many photographs taken with a pornographic intent
have become so stylish and, conversely, many fashion shots are so filled with
sexual innuendo that it is difficult to differentiate between the two”
(Hall-Duncan 9).
It’s true that many of the photographs portrayed at the MFA
showed nude models or celebrities. It’s hard to see, though, where the line is
drawn between art and pornography, especially when art museums are full of
nudes. Is Michelangelo’s David that much different from Testio’s portrait of a
male model, posing full frontal, legs spread, and hands behind his head, not a
stitch of clothing on him? (I won’t post that picture here; I’ll let you all
find it on your own.) Certainly the portrait is more overt; it seems the model
is basking in the viewers’ gaze. “Some photographers today have attempted a
visual breakthrough by an individual style based on shock… These attempts to
shock stem from the success of contemporary art. To startle the spectator has
always been the desire of the avant-garde artist” (Devlin 22).
Perhaps the museum-goers were more shocked by the gender
role-reversals portrayed in some of the photographs.
[Paul Jobling] sees the trend during the decade for images by photographers such as Herb Ritts of muscular and hard female bodies, often wearing clothes that appear almost like armour, as being symbolic. To Jobling, these images of active, healthy bodies not only represent a defence against the potential inactivity imposed by high unemployment in the 1980s and protection against ‘new’ diseases such as HIV and AIDS, but also (in the photographs of female models) create an image of the ‘phallic woman’ who symbolically possesses the power of the phallus culturally associated with men (Bull 155).
“Jennifer Lopez,” New York, 2012. © Mario Testino.
From the exhibition “In Your Face”
by Mario Testino at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
In his photographs, Testino didn’t just endow the females
with a symbolic phallus; he literally gave them the equipment. In this photo of
Jennifer Lopez, she is in boxing gear, portraying the active body Bull
described. She is also portraying a bulge in the front of her briefs. It was
this picture that greeted patrons as they first entered the exhibit, letting
them know exactly what they were in for.
Of course, not all the photographs were of nudes or gender-confused
entertainers. Many of the photographs displayed Testino’s work as a fashion
photographer. Many of these photos were visually stunning, showing already
beautiful people in an even more beautiful light. Like most fashion
photography, the photos were mostly of women. “Fashion photography has played
an extremely important role in the emancipation of women. No other group of
human beings has been portrayed so publicly; and no other medium has reproduced
as many varying images of women as women’s magazines” (Devlin 17). Testino
certainly doesn’t shy away from women, making them front and center in most of
his photographs.
From simple portraits,
to elegant poses,
to crazy backgrounds,
Testino seems to draw the women forward, leaving a lasting impression of the
person at the center of the photograph, and not just on the clothes draped over
her. Even the more conservative audience could appreciate these more
conventional photographs as an art form.
Maybe it’s okay for photographs to make us uncomfortable. I
have a friend – a photographer – who thinks that art is supposed to cause a
strong reaction, even if that reaction is revulsion or disgust. Though I don’t
necessarily agree with that assessment, it does embrace the spirit of “In Your
Face.” Certainly people were talking about the exhibit, debating whether the
photographs were art or pornography, trash or treasure. Personally, I loved it.
I loved being confronted with images that were uncomfortable, crude, or just
plain silly. I found myself thinking of the exhibit long after I left the
museum. And in the end, isn’t that the point?
Picture Sources (In order of appearance):
Allure Magazine: Life of the Party by Photographer Mario Testino. December 2012. http://www.imageamplified.com
Mario Testino: Natalie Portman. http://theworldofphotographers.com/2011/07/02/testino-mario-photographer/new-old-mario-testino-photo-shoot-natalie-portman/
From the exhibition “In Your Face” by Mario Testino at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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