CONTRIBUTORS

MARIO TESTINO, whose iconic images have included pictures of Princess Diana, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley, and Prince William, photographed Jennifer Aniston for this month's issue. "I have been given the opportunity to shoot Jennifer several times for Vanity Fair, " he says, "and she has never looked as good as she does now. There was an intimacy on this shoot which allowed me to get something unusual." Bom in Lima, Peru, but based in London since the late 70s, Testino has established himself as one of the world's foremost celebrity photographers. His books include Front Row/Back Stage, Any Objections?, Alive, and Party, and his work was the subject of a touring exhibition, "Mario Testino: Portraits," which premiered at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2002. As well as shooting for magazines such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, and The Face, Testino has also been a creative force behind provocative ad campaigns at Gucci, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein.

Leaving her post in London to join V.F. as a monthly contributing travel editor, VICTORIA MATHER arrives with a resume that includes work as a reporter for the BBC, CBS, and NBC; film critic for The Daily Telegraph; and travel editor for Tatler. At Tatler, Mather created the annual Tatler Travel Guide, including the "101 best hotels." She brings her expertise to V.F. for the first time this month, taking readers on a journey to one of her favorite places: the Maldives ("Marvelous Maldives," page 198). "I love anywhere I don't have to wear shoes," she says. The negative side to visiting all these fabulous destinations, Mather explains, is the airports. "They are hell nowadays. Private jet is the only way upward."

After losing her husband, an F.D.N.Y. Squad 1 firefighter, at the World Trade Center on 9/11, MARIAN FONTANA was propelled to the fore as an advocate for the firefighting community, forming the 9/11 Widows' and Victims' Family Association. The group is actively involved in the 9/11 memorial process. "We just got a grant to open up a visitors' center and museum, located on Liberty Street across from Ground Zero," Fontana says. The project will break ground in March 2006. "Right now we are organizing tours, slated to start in October or November. We wanted to provide a firsthand account by residents, retired firefighters, and people who were actually at the site." An excerpt from Fontana's upcoming book, A Widow's Walk (Simon & Schuster), begins on page 340.

In his first article for Vanity Fair, MICHAEL BRONNER, a former producer for 60 Minutes II, looks at the incredible pressures facing U.S. military recruiters ("The Recruiters' War," page 303), and the sometimes tragic effects of their profession. Not normally prone to complain, these career soldiers felt compelled to express their misgivings, considering the country's current recruiting crisis. "The military is the core of all these guys' lives, and it's no small thing for them to criticize it," Bronner says. "Most of them told me they've loved the military and most of what they've done there. They spoke with a strange mix of pride and shame."

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Nearly five years ago, contributing editor LESLIE BENNETTS interviewed a newly married Jennifer Aniston for the May 2001 cover. She met her again last year when profiling Aniston's then husband, Brad Pitt. This month Bennetts revisits the star under very different circumstances. "This has been a terrible year for Aniston, but she's handled it with enormous grace and self-restraint," she says. "She hasn't been given enough credit for how classy her behavior has been, despite outrageous provocations." Bennetts is certain Aniston will end up wiser and happier in the long run. "She's gone through this ordeal with her head held high, her values securely in place, and her self-respect intact. She has a lot to feel proud about."

Three years ago, BRETT FORREST arrived in Moscow for a short trip and decided to stay. "I came on a visit—you know, Red Square, the books, the Soviet crack-up. I had no idea what went on here among what they call the Zolotoye Molodyozh— the Golden Youth," Forrest says. "When I was fortunate enough to get drawn into it as some element of international flavor, there was no way I was heading back." He shares his itch for travel and spontaneity with the subjects of his piece this month, the creators of the file-sharing company Kazaa. Forrest is also writing a novel based on his experiences in Eastern Europe, which is tentatively titled Moscow Is Hell.

Though contributing editor LAURA JACOBS has written about dozens of designers, she was unfamiliar with the work of home-decor guru Cath Kidston. But as she headed to London for this month's piece "Sentimental Beauty," on page 360, Jacobs considered her innocence a blessing. "I came into it completely open to the product, and I could look at it with a clear eye." Upon their meeting, Jacobs instantly understood Kidston's empire. "It's the houses of Cath's childhood reborn in a contemporary way. She's attracting every generation, and they're all drawn to different aspects of the line." Jacobs, who has been writing for V.F. for more than a decade, took notice of Kidston's personal approach to business as well. "Empire building doesn't drive her. She wants a shop that excites people—a shop people will never forget."

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According to contributing editor DAVID MARGOLICK. a few decisive minutes in history can serve as the best window for understanding an era. Such is the case with the 1938 heavyweight bout between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, the story of which is excerpted this month from Margolick's latest book, Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink (Knopf). "That battle encapsulates many of the themes that have always interested me: civil rights, sports, Nazi culture, World War II, New York City, the politics of the 1930s, and the relationship between Jews and blacks," says Margolick. "Like Strange Fruit [his book on the anti-lynching song that Billie Holiday made famous], this is about two minutes of history. It's a fascinating notion: focusing on a very small chunk of time and then writing about all the emanations from it."

Having covered parties in Havana, Saint-Tropez, Marrakech, and Gstaad for Vanity Fair in the past, KRISTINA STEWART WARD had no problem turning out this month's international social calendar, which appears on page 214. "Today's jet-setters don't mind changing time zones to attend a big party," she says. "They're social gypsies who grew up migrating along the same flight patterns." A Mormon from Orange County, California, she says that "this was not exactly second nature for me—though it's not hard to get used to it." Stewart Ward is writing a book on the economic and social history of the jet set. Newly married, she divides her time between Los Angeles and New York City.

In writing about the American South, contributing editor CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS had to show considerable restraint ("My Red-State Odyssey," page 230). "The cliches are lurking in the keyboard, waiting to spring up on the page," he says. "One must be careful not to indulge the stereotypes, while not missing the fact that some southerners are rather proud of them." An established inhabitant of Washington, D.C., Hitchens realized only recently that he lived south of the Mason-Dixon Line—and had for years. "I've always liked southerners," he says, "and it may possibly be a kinship, an odd cousinhood of being British." Being British, as well as a longtime U.S. resident, placed Hitchens in an ideal position to write his latest book, Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (HarperCollins), with an eye toward fairness.

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As a journalist with an affinity for exposing unsettling realities, contributing editor DAVID ROSE has a particular admiration for those who seek to do the same in their respective fields, such as former F.B.I. translator Sibel Edmonds, the subject of his article "An Inconvenient Patriot," whom he met while on tour for his book Guantanamo: The War on Human Rights, last November. "When I started as a writer in Britain 25 years ago, one saw America as much more open," Rose recalls. "It was a better climate for those who wanted to draw attention to wrongdoing in or by officialdom. Now it seems things have changed."

When contributing photographer HARRY BENSON traveled to the United States with the Beatles in 1964, the Scottish lensman never made his return flight home. Instead he stayed Stateside, freeze-framing American history—from pop and movie stars to politicians and civilians—with the snap of a shutter. This month, the former Life-magazine staffer captured the subjects of Michael Bronner's story, "The Recruiters' War." "I've done military stories, and every military story has been very promilitary. General Schwarzkopf even allowed me to travel with him in his helicopter during the Gulf War," Benson says. "But this was different. It was a sad story. All of the people were passionate about the military, but their passion had turned into despair. A mother was proud to have her son a Marine, but then everything turned awful."

FRED TURNER has

Assistant editor

FRED TURNER shepherded some of the most memorable articles to be printed in this magazine since he arrived in 2002, as deputy to senior articles editor Doug Stumpf. "Whether it's doing research or talking with the writers, it's fascinating to be involved on a story from concept to publication, to know the story behind the story and to help mold it," says Turner. As an inveterate outdoorsman—he rowed on the Harvard lightweight crew team and is an avid mountain climber—Turner remembers working on Ned Zeman's ASME-nominated piece, "The Man Who Loved Grizzlies," with particular fondness. Combining his insatiable thirst for adventure with his passion for journalism, Turner aspires to write about the wilderness and teach environmental history.

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