82 Quotes by Mario Testino

Most photographers go and photograph something that they see, that exists, and that somebody else has created - they document it. But fashion photographers have to create what they're going to photograph. We have to go into the thought and build it up, get a girl, get a guy, get a situation, get the house, get the decor. It's the meaning of the word photography: "writing with light."

No! Beauty is emotional! That’s why plastic surgery never works. Women who want to change their nose, lips, they don’t understand that they are doing nothing except erasing their magic.

Some people strive for perfection, but I often find perfection boring.

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

My pictures are my eyes. I photograph what I see – and what I want to see.

Some things happen by accident – embrace them.

In Los Angeles, individuality is very big, because people live in secluded bubbles. People don’t walk around. They’re very insular, and that allows for people to be whatever they want.

The liberation of women has brought a lot of equality to the man, in the emancipation of the man as a bulldog; we can also be soft. It’s interesting, because sometimes I maybe push the men a little bit more than the women, because it’s a little bit less expected.

A man today has to live with the reality of today. He can no longer live with the reality of 100 years ago. The world’s changing so fast. Unless you are prepared to adapt every day, then you have a problem, because the world’s not stopping.