Tributes have been paid to Oliviero Toscani, the Italian vogue photographer famend for the provocative photographs utilized in Benetton’s promoting campaigns, who has died aged 83.
Toscani, who for twenty years was the artwork director of the worldwide clothes chain, died on Monday after being hospitalised near his house within the Tuscan city of Cecina.
The Milan-born photographer advised Corriere della Sera newspaper in August final yr that he had a terminal sickness and didn’t understand how lengthy he needed to stay.
“With nice unhappiness we announce that right this moment, January 13, 2025, our beloved Oliviero has launched into his subsequent journey,” his household stated in an announcement on Instagram. “We kindly ask for discretion and understanding at the moment.”
Toscani labored for outstanding vogue magazines all through his profession together with Elle, Vogue, GQ and Harper’s Bazaar, photographing John Lennon, Andy Warhol and the Italian movie director Federico Fellini alongside the way in which.
However he was finest recognized for photographs that drew consideration to social themes, starting from HIV/Aids and racism to the demise penalty and mafia killings, within the United Colors of Benetton promoting campaigns, largely within the Nineteen Eighties.
Probably the most controversial was his use of {a photograph} of David Kirby, who had Aids, on his deathbed, surrounded by his household, for a 1992 Benetton marketing campaign throughout the peak of the well being disaster within the US.
Different provocative pictures included a kiss between a priest and a nun, the faces of males on demise row, a black lady breastfeeding a white little one and a still-bloody new child child with umbilical wire connected.
Toscani’s work was applauded and reviled, scary client backlashes and boycotts of Benetton, with among the vogue model’s promoting campaigns censored in Italy and France.
He additionally courted controversy together with his 2007 {photograph} for the style model Nolita of the mannequin Isabelle Caro, who had extreme anorexiaand was pictured nude. She later died of the illness. The picture, timed to run according to Milan vogue week, was displayed on billboards with “No Anorexia” over the photograph.
In an interview in 2016 with a images weblog, Toscani stated firms had a duty to “present [their] social intelligence and sensitivity to the society” round them.
On Monday, Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, stated Toscani had left “an indelible mark” on the world of images and communication.
“His pictures and campaigns provoked and made us suppose,” he added.
Parliamentarians for the 5 Star Motion paid tribute to a “visionary and brave expertise” who knew easy methods to “rework images into a strong device for social reflection”.
“With braveness and creativity, he challenged conference, breaking patterns and opening new horizons on the planet of artwork and promoting. His visionary expertise will proceed to encourage future generations.”
Benetton broke ties with Toscani in 2020 after dismissive feedback he made concerning the 2018 bridge collapse in Genoa that killed 43 folks. The Benetton household was the principle shareholder of the corporate that managed the bridge on the time of the catastrophe.
Earlier than his demise Toscani had stated he was affected by amyloidosis, by which irregular protein deposits develop within the physique. The uncommon illness prompted him to lose 40kg in a yr, he advised Corriere final yr.
Supply hyperlink
