Mariano Vivanco
Fashion Photographer.
INSTAGRAM: @MARIANOVIVANCO
BIO:
Lima-born Mariano Vivanco travelled the world with his family from a very early age, leaving Peru at the age of ten and eventually settling down in New Zealand, where his passion for photography began.
Inspired by the likes of Edward Steichen and Horst P. Horst, Vivanco moved to London in the year 2000 to pursue a career in fashion photography. Since then, Vivanco has become one of the world’s leading editorial photographers, regularly shooting for major publications.
His subjects have included singers, actors, designers, athletes, and other acclaimed celebrities. Vivanco has published several books, including Ninety Five Chapel Market, which is a great example of his daylight portraiture work shot with film.
Three of his portraits, including one from this book, are in a permanent collection in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Vivanco’s fun and light-hearted energy lends itself to capturing and entertaining the audience of today.
BC: Where to begin... from the humble beginning cutting your teeth in New Zealand to rockstar photographer around the world, I never doubted you and neither did you. How does it feel looking back at your extraordinary journey?
MV: So great to reconnect Leisa! Yeah, at times it feels like a blink of the eye and at times it feels like the biggest mountain to climb, and I’m only halfway there!
BC: We met when you were an excitable 23year old, whenever we shot you always said “Let’s treat it like Vogue”. Only one of us went on the fulfill that dream. How was that first vogue shoot?
MV: I probably said it half-joking but you know what they say; the truest things are said in jest. I was trying to remember which was my first vogue shoot. Whether it was L’Uomo Vogue or Vogue Greece. Either way I would have thought ‘I’ve only just started and I have to keep going’.
BC: You have worked with the most beautiful women (and men) in the world and you always make them look insanely stunning but you also capture something extra. It feels like the real magic happens because of your connection with them, your ability to become everyone's best friend. Is that just who you are?
MV: I love people, that's just who I am.
“I love people, that’s just who I am. ”
BC: When I met your mother she came across as gorgeously flamboyant and asked me to make her look like a diva… she is absolutely stunning, Sophia Lorenesque, was it through her that you derived your love of beauty?
MV: She is far from flamboyant! LOL. And isn’t a diva, she is a well-groomed woman with a strong character. Yes, she is partially responsible for my romanticism with movies and pop culture. Which later morphed into a fashion obsession.
BC: You left NZ for London in 2000 and quickly made a name for yourself, how did you get your first big break?
MV: It wasn’t that quick. There isn’t such a thing as a big break, it’s a whole bunch of little steps. I certainly can’t forget Tandy Anderson the owner of Select modelling agency believing in me and helped me enormously.
BC: The early days in London saw you testing up and coming models in the window of your apartment, which you later turned into Ninetyfive Chapel Market book, did you have a vision then or were you just doing your time and learning your craft?
MV: Both. Some of the images I took (ie David Gandy and Lily Cole) resonated strongly in my mind so I chose to keep those polaroids and films knowing one day I would make a book out of them. In the meanwhile the practice of shooting people one on one next to the window totally deconstructed all the photography skills I had acquired in New Zealand, I learned to connect with people in a different way. A process that was humbling and wonderful.
BC: You have worked with the biggest Hair & Makeup names in the business, how do you determine the aesthetic for the shoot, is this collaborative or Mariano Vivanco driven?
MV: Both. Mostly collaborative. I am grateful for the great people I work with, they add so much to my work.
“There isn’t such a thing as a big break, it’s a whole bunch of little steps.”
BC: When you were young you adapted to your situation like a chameleon, you could relate to everyone, the queen or the dustman a quality I really admired, have you ever felt intimidated by the celebrities you shoot?
MV: I would say no. If talent intimidated me the photoshoot would not work.
BC: What is beauty to you?
MV: Inner peace.
BC: What is your favourite makeup look?
MV: I like them all, from natural to glam to punk. I love makeup.
BC: You recently became a father to the divine Henry, how has fatherhood changed you?
MV: In a positive way. It has added a different perspective to my life which I am very grateful for.
BC: You experienced a lengthy lockdown in London, what did you miss the most?
MV: Going to bed so tired from a day's work.
BC: What was the first thing you did when the restrictions were lifted?
MV: Went to the English countryside.
BC: What's next for Mariano Vivanco?
MV: Moving into my new office.
Interview By: Leisa Welch.