In "Sir", Mario Testino presents over 300 photographs in his search to define the allure of men. Including many unpublished works from his archive of thousands, "Sir" traces the evolution of the male in Testino’s photographs over the past three decades of his career. In these pages the body, costume, tradition, gender play, portraiture, photojournalism, constructed realities and fashion collide.

Mario Testino is renowned as a free-spirited chronicler of both dress and demeanor, wherever he finds it. In "Sir" we see Testino’s career-long exploration as an inquisitive observer of masculinity in all of its modes, from Béziers to Cusco, Seville to Arles, Rio to London. “It has been a surprise to see now just how many different kinds of pictures of men I’ve taken over the past thirty years…” said Testino. “Also I think that the way men are seen in photography, in fashion, and the way that men look at pictures of themselves has changed in recent years. It is a subject that has come into focus. The masculine image, a man’s personal style, changing attitudes to the male face and body…”

Every photograph represents a unique point of view, and a new visual connection between photographer and sitter. With Josh Hartnett for VMAN (2005), Testino evokes the fall of Helmut Berger in the abyss of Luchino Visconti’s The Damned. He channels Cecil Beaton with Michael Howells for W (1995) and revives the universe of Jean Cocteau for Männer Vogue (1988). Studies of Brad Pitt, George Clooney, David Genat, Jude Law and Colin Firth are as candid as they are curious. David Beckham, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards feature for the courage they have taken in establishing their own identity and contributing to the redefinition of masculinity for an often conventional public in which Testino’s work has played its part.

Edited by creative polymath Patrick Kinmonth, "Sir" is a visual chronicle of what defines a man in a kaleidoscope of guises: from the dandy and the gentleman, the macho and the fey, the hippy and world-famous face to the unknown passerby. "Sir" does not compartmentalise Testino’s sensibility, but celebrates his irreverent curiosity and impeccable intuition. The book goes beyond the territory of fashion into portraits that define a period in which men’s changing role, style and appearance has never escaped Testino’s eye.

Click here to purchase "Sir" Standard Edition (2016) and here Limited Edition (2015).

Edited by Patrick Kinmonth. Interview with Patrick Kinmonth and essay by Pierre Borhan. Designed by MARIOTESTINO+.
Limited Edition: Hardcover, Swiss binding, Japanese cloth, in metallic slipcase, 12.7 x 16.4 in., 456 pages. Published by Taschen; English edition (25 February 2015).
Standard Edition: Softcover, 27 x 35 cm, 504 pages. Published by Taschen. Multilingual Edition: English, French, German (2016)