- Born in Lima, Peru in1954
- Moved to London
- Testino has a phobia about getting his hands dirty.
- In 2002 he received a lifetime artistic achievement award for his 30-year career
- His photographs have been seen around the world from Vogue to Vanity Fair, in fashion house ad campaigns from Burberry and Gucci to Versace.
He is dedicated to helping people around the world through donating, raising money and supporting charities and good causes. As the Save the children ambassador, he raised money to build a playground in Moscow children’s hospital. The hospital specialises in cancer, which his brother died from at the age of 10.
He has Published 10 books of his photographs. His most recent book “Kate Moss” by Mario Testino, the photographs of his close friend and muse over their 20-year friendship. He described Moss as “my favourite”.
Testino and fashion stylist Carine Roitfeld have been credited for drawing significant attention to the house of Gucci through provocative ad campaigns in the mid-1990s, which, along with Tom Ford’s designs, led to the revival of Gucci as a major fashion house.
Testino’s photographs have captured actors, beauties and worldwide celebrities of the moment. Some of his most famous photographs were of the late Princess Dianna in 1997.
“Being from Peru has influenced my career in a very special and individual way. It’s not like I’m an English photographer in an English community, with lots of other English photographers – or American, Italian, French or German (which is the majority of our business). My training, my eye, my sense of color and my composition are very much shaped by Peru and I feel very lucky to have this perspective. It’s an honor when the people that come from the country or continent you come from approve of something you have done and applaud you for it – I feel very flattered to be receiving this award and to be able to give back to our community.” —Mario Testino
What an inspiring man !
Bibliography
http://www.fotovisura.com/features/2011/04/testino
http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/mario-testino-biography
http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/kate-moss-kiss-me-kate/#1
designhistorykingscliff 
Interesting to learn this man has a phobia of dirty hands.
The quote is also insightful. It would be helpful to put it in context i.e. where and to whom was he speaking.