We’ve been talking photography here at the office today thanks to the fact that I’m still a little weak in the knees about my Chuck Close moment.

Also, the LA Times has a really nice piece that traces the most influential people in modern fashion photography. Seriously if I had money to spend on art, a huge chunk of it would go to photography.

There would be Chuck Close (of course), as much David Bailey as I could get my hands on, and if I could ever afford to have Mario Testino shoot me looking a fraction as pretty as he has so many other girls, I would be self-involved enough to hang a picture of me in my apartment.

This should make your day.

We stumbled on a video of Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and maybe Amber Valetta (but I’ve watched it five times and still can’t tell for sure) posing for maybe Mario Testino (going off the voice here, he doesn’t make an appearance) for an almost vintage Pirelli calendar shoot.

The girls look insanely young, dancing around the studio, hopping on each others backs and genuinely bursting with personality until they accidentally break their set. And I thought being a model circa now looked like fun.

The only movie that’s made me laugh harder than The September Issue this year is The Hangover.

Anna Wintour is funny; my mascara is smudged from tears of laughter. The film may start out with Anna saying that fashion’s picked on because people are bitter they aren’t a cool kid, but she only gets more human from there and by the end you might even want to hug her.

Grace Coddington is, as reported, the real star of the movie. Her inner turmoil over the changing industry and her role in Anna’s history plays out on screen and one can’t help but sympathize with her as Anna cancels more and more of her shoots.

The movie travels from New York to Paris for couture to London for a meeting with Mario Testino to Rome for Sienna’s shoot and back to New York to close the issue and present it to Si Newhouse. In Paris, we cringed when Anna shut Stefano Pilati down; in London we laughed at Mario’s grandly cinematic ideas and in Rome we admired Sienna’s energy and Sally Singer’s patience.

Emma Watson has emerged as quite the young fashion star—from wearing Rodarte and hanging with Daphne Guinness to shooting with Mario Testino for the new Burberry ads that will break in August magazines, where she looks like the picture of youthful sophistication.

And with each move, we love her more and more.

Now, if only we could groom our young American stars to grow up in the spotlight with as much style and grace as the girl best known as Hermione. We suppose Dakota Fanning is holding her own, but other examples elude us.

Christopher Bailey said of Emma, “Her charm, intellect and brilliant sense of fun made the whole shoot feel like a picnic on the Thames.” We can hardly imagine any designer saying the same of one of our teen queens.

Not Fashion: But too good not to share. Ed Westwick said, “I have used his name before and just said, ‘Hi, I’m Chuck Bass’ like a catchphrase. It makes me giggle.” {Mirror}

Someone’s Hiring: If you look up to girls like Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port and Stephanie Pratt, Kelly Cutrone needs a new assistant. Consider yourself warned. {CityFile}

Who’s That Girl?: Raquel Zimmerman’s embraced bleached blonde for the summer. Should look lovely with the Proenza she’s wearing tonight. {StyleFile}

Marc, Highlighted: The best bits from yesterday’s Times Talk. Marc talks princesses, urine, Lacroix, Paris and BryanBoy. {BlackBook}

If anyone out there’s more excited than we about this year’s Met theme, it’s Modelinia.

They’ve declared May, “History of Models” month and snagged Model as Muse curator Kohle Yohannan to guide us through beautiful people from 1920 to today.

Here’s a peek at what the month holds - interviews with Gilles Bensimon, Garren, Paulina Porizkova, Erin Wasson and Mario Testino who says, “If a girl looks beautiful, you can put a pot on her head and people will say, ‘Oh my god, it looks incredible!’”

Sneak a Peek: Here’s a peek at Christian Siriano’s actual shoes for Payless. Lots of crinkled patent and some chain details, considerably less dramatic than what hit his runway earlier this year. {Racked}

Mario & Maillots: Just in case it’s not hot enough for you, here’s a look at Mario Testino’s newest editorial for V’s Swimsuit Issue. {VBlog}

Barbie Girl: Because everything should be candy colored come summer, here’s a list of the best pink lipsticks and the girls who wear them well. {WWWD}

We just came across this old Model Diaries video of Doutzen Kroes, before she became a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

In it, Doutzen smiles, Doutzen talks about her small hometown, she eats a cantaloupe slice, etc.

But the best part is with Mario Testino: “I love when you can tell a girl, ‘I want you jumping.’”

Oh, Mario.

In 2006, when The Devil Wears Prada came out, everyone thought Vogue would suck it up and put Anne Hathaway on its cover.

No such luck - though Anna Wintour did wear Prada to the premier which is almost better.

Now, three years later, Anne graces the first cover of 2009.

Here’s a behind the scenes peek at the shoot - styled by Tonne Goodman, make-up’d by Gucci Westman and shot by Mario Testino. Anne aptly declares, “If you can’t look gorgeous with this team then you can’t look gorgeous period.”

The Rodarte dress doesn’t hurt either.

After having to break up with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley after her Fall 08 ads, Burberry’s taken an entirely new direction - color.

They had Mario Testino shoot Lily Donaldson alongside Burberry newcomers Eden Clarke and Alexina Graham in a London nursery (the kind for plants, not Muppets), keeping the shots in their natural color, rather than the black-and-white Burberry championed last season.

A hint towards a brighter outlook? We think so - especially since one of the ads features their new It bag, the Gardener, prominently on the arm of Lily.

PS Does anyone else think it’s cute that they shot in a plant nursery, featuring a “Gardening” bag, and two of the models are named Lily and Eden? Almost literary. Almost…

The Daily Mail’s breathless over the fact that Jessica Alba was airbrushed for her Campari calendar shoot, shot by Mario Testino.

But let’s skip feigning shock and go straight for the fun:

Can you spot all the many digital changes performed in this before and after?

Just brownie points as the prize - though if someone can point out one we haven’t noticed, maybe something of your choice from our local Starbucks can be arranged.

Dear Natalia,

You’re basically the prettiest person we’ve ever seen, ever, and we smile every time we see you in the David Yurman ads or posing for DVF, or as the lone model on the cover of Vogue.

Having said that, we were all kind of freaked out by the faux-pastoral scene shot by Mario Testino with your family because, isn’t it sort of creepy to have beautiful you holding your terrified children on a horse? And it’s also rather disconcerting to see all of you looking in different directions, dazed.

Plus, this isn’t the first time you’ve done the whole ‘look at my gorgeous family’ thing in Vogue, but at a time when ostentation couldn’t be more inappropriate, this seems out of place.

We do have fond memories of the shots of Stella Tennant with her family, but that had an interview to accompany it, and was all about personal style, which made sense. But just seeing the Portman clan hanging out and playing dress up looking like Peter and Wendy grown up is just awkward.

I’m sure if you asked him nicely Mario would have done this shoot just for you.

Just saying.

—BRETT KANE

We have a feeling some people might be a little nervous with this Mario Testino interview, a “diary” of his life put together for the Independent.

“Some people” include the PR department of Vogue, the PR department of V, and the front desk at the Chateau Marmont in LA, where Testino revealed he lives, where swarms of wannabe anorexics will now camp out in hopes of being discovered.

Mario Testino also revealed…

1) That Keira Knightley will be on the cover of September’s Vogue (but without Sienna, her co-star in the movie The Edge of Love which they are both currently promoting. Wonder which magazine cover Sienna will end up gracing…)

2) That V Man’s next issue stars Chace Crawford of Gossip Girl. Mark your calendars for that one.

3) That Testino thinks Toni Garrn is the next Claudia Schiffer, maybe.

4) That if you’re under 30, Mario Testino wants to be your friend.

Hey MT, we can help you with that one…

Everyone’s still taking guesses for July’s all-black Vogue Italia cover, but there’s actually another upcoming Vogue cover featuring a black model, too -

The June/July Vogue Paris has two covers, one with Laetitia Casta, the other with Parisian superstar Noémie Lenoir.

Noémie’s the first non-white woman to grace the cover alone in more than a year (other than Andre J. and Naomi who both shared covers with white models).

Unfortunately, Noémie only gets one photo in the Mario Testino editorial and she, again, is sharing a pose with Laetitia.

Maybe she should have held out for more solo pages in Vogue Italia?

—KYLE HAYES (our new intern!)

Rumors surround Kate Moss like socialites surround the upcoming Chanel sample sale

But this particular one, that she’ll grace the cover of Vogue’s August issue, appears to be true.

She was out and about in East London the other day wearing a Burberry trench, being directed by Grace Coddington and shot by Mario Testino - and that’s pretty much the Vogue Trifecta. An August cover would also coincide quite nicely with the September opening of New York City’s first Topshop - a party Kate’s sure to attend.

With Philip Green’s biggest star on the cover of the biggest fashion magazine, there’s potential for him to single handedly revive lagging ad sales.

Which means those much anticipated September issues might still be ridiculously heavy.

A couple weeks ago, we shared with you guys that Agyness was no longer going to be the Burberry girl starting next season.

Now everyone’s in a tizzy over that Metro UK article where an “insider” spills that Testino has dropped Agyness not because girls are dropped from campaigns all the time, but specifically because he thinks she’s “over-exposed”.

And the girl said to be her replacement? Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, a 21-year old that the British press has been swearing is the next Kate Moss since 2004, and Christopher Bailey’s date to the Met ball earlier this month.

Can a girl best known for modeling underwear replace the quirky Agyness?

It looks like we’re about to find out.