MARIO TESTINO AND SIMON DE PURY IN CONVERSATION AT PATRICIA LOW CONTEMPORARY

On January 31st at Patricia Low Gallery in Gstaad, Switzerland, Simon de Pury sat down with Mario Testino for a rare public conversation that moved fluidly from Princess Diana to Swiss cows, from supermodels to sales figures, and from Vogue’s golden era to the realities of social media. What emerged was not nostalgia, but candour. Testino spoke openly about photographing Diana without entourage, about asking to change her hair and makeup and her response: “You’re the expert. I put myself in your hands.” He recalled missing a royal sitting on September 11th, the collapse of editorial authority in fashion, and the moment he realised that for decades, even at the height of influence, every image still passed through someone else’s approval.

The discussion did not linger on legacy. Instead, it shifted to the present. Testino described stepping outside the fashion system that once defined him, turning his focus toward A Beautiful World, his long-term project documenting traditions across 36 countries. In Switzerland, that meant photographing decorated Alpine cows with the same compositional discipline once reserved for Kate Moss. He spoke about attention, about the difference between seeing and truly looking, and about arriving outside the spectacle of festivals to isolate posture, ceremony and pride. The fashion eye remains, but the framework has changed.

There were lighter moments. A clairvoyant in Paris who predicted his international breakthrough. Jennifer Lopez telling him to “Testino me out.” Models insisting on mirrors. Editors who once shaped culture now largely absent. Beneath the humour sat a sharper reflection on the industry’s transformation. Campaigns that once unfolded over months now disappear in a day. Creativity competes with velocity. Testino’s response has been expansion rather than retreat.

To watch Mario Testino in conversation with Simon de Pury in Gstaad is to see a photographer speak with unusual clarity about authorship, power, beauty and proportion, and about what comes after fashion dominance. The full video of the talk at Patricia Low Gallery HERE.