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It was precisely this lucky scoop, portraying the young and fairly sleepy Rolling Stones at the tables of a London café, that baptised John “Hoppy” Hopkins’ career (and the pages of this book), photographer of the Stones, the Beatles and many others, famous and not, on the 60’s cultural and political scene. Thanks to an extraordinary ability to step into various worlds, over the years Hopkins’ lens has collected the most diverse personalities: from beat poet Allen Ginsberg to the “holy idols” of black American music (Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington) right on to pacifist leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. But the 150 plus photos also document the “peace & love” marches, young heroin users, bikers, Mods, tattoo artists and, more generally, all the outsiders of the 60’s counterculture. Setting aside his Cambridge degree in physics and a promising career as a nuclear physicist, John Hopkins drifted into photography when someone made him a present of an ordinary camera. The Sunday Times, The Observer, Melody Maker, Jazz Journal and Peace News are only some of the publications he contributed to before founding, with the help of Paul McCartney, the first British underground daily, The International Times. Hopkins must also be credited with opening the first psychedelic club in London, the legendary UFO, and with being one of the most active supporters, towards the mid 60’s, of a young band then unknown: Pink Floyd.

Even as Mario Testino has become a royal image-maker in England and in Hollywood, where his portraits define the new glamour for a generation of stars, models and celebrities, he has cherished visions of the elegance and endless beaches of Lima, the city where he grew up. He has always confessed his love: «I'm very proud of being Peruvian, I would not want to be from anywhere else. I've lived in Europe for 30 years, but the moment I see our flag I get soppy.» And he confesses it again here, though not in a traditional book of his own photography. For in «Lima, Peru» Testino make his first foray into the role of photo editor, celebrating the title city through the eyes of its artists, photographers, artisans and photojournalists. Of this project's genesis Testino says, «I wanted to capture Lima's positive chaos... I wanted to find a book which conveyed this — the way Lima's artists and photographers have captured their city's color and complexity, its art, its people and its buildings, its street life and its interiors. But no such book existed, and so I decided to edit one myself.» In «Lima, Peru», Testino sets sweeping views of the city's architecture opposite details of its ceramic tiles. He collects observations of the city's natural exhibitionists as well as those who would normally shy away from the camera. He showcases art, parades, religion, sex, football, market life, architecture, interiors, high society, the bourgeoisie, teenagers, soldiers, surfers, priests, bullfighters, brides, hostesses, street sellers, waiters, artists, dancers, musicians and sun-worshippers. This is a shimmering, kaleidoscopic view of the city — a considered, eclectic and detailed composite from a master portraitist.