Oliviero Toscani (born 28 February 1942) is an Italian photographer, best-known worldwide for designing controversial advertising campaigns for Italian brand Benetton, from 1982 to 2000. Toscani was born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, and took up photography following in the footsteps of his father, Fedele Toscani, a photoreporter for the newspaper ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

''. After obtaining his diploma at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich, he started working with different magazines, including ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''L'Uomo Vogue'' and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

''. In 1982 he started working as Art Director for the Benetton Group. One of his most famous campaigns included a photo (by Therese Frare) of David Kirby dying of AIDS, lying in a

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, hospital bed, surrounded by his grieving relatives. The picture was controversial due to its similarity to a

pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form o ...

painting and because critics of the ad thought the use of this image to sell clothing was exploiting the victim, though the Kirby family stated that they authorized the use and that it helped increase AIDS awareness. Other advertisements included references to racism (notably one with three almost identical human hearts, which were actually pig hearts, with the words 'white', 'black', and 'yellow' as captions), war, religion and even capital punishment. In the early 1990s, Toscani co-founded the magazine ''

Colors Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

'' (also owned by Benetton) with American graphic designer

Tibor Kalman Tibor George Kalman (July 6, 1949 – May 2, 1999) was an American graphic designer of Hungarian origin, well known for his work as editor-in-chief of ''Colors'' magazine. Early life Kalman was born on July 6, 1949, in Budapest, to parents Ma ...

. With the tagline "a magazine about the rest of the world", ''Colors'' built on the multiculturalism prevalent at that time and in Benetton's ad campaigns, while remaining editorially independent from group. Toscani left Benetton in 2000. A long-term Tuscany resident, in 2003 he created in collaboration with Regione Toscana a new research facility for modern communication called 'La Sterpaia'. In 2005, Toscani sparked controversy again with his photographs for an advertising campaign for the men's clothing brand 'Ra-Re'. Their portrayals of men participating in homosexual behaviour angered groups such as the Catholic parents' association ''

Movimento Italiano Genitori The ''Italian Parents Movement'' ( it, Movimento Italiano Genitori, known also by the acronym ''Moige'') is an Italian non-profit, lobbying and advocacy organization in Rome, Italy. Its mission is protecting children and expanding rights for parent ...

'', who called the pictures 'vulgar'. The campaign came amidst ongoing debate in Italy about

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

. Toscani unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for parliament for the new

Rose in the Fist The Rose in the Fist ( it, Rosa nel Pugno, RnP) was a political alliance of parties in Italy. The RnP was composed of the Italian Democratic Socialists (SDI; a social-democratic party led by Enrico Boselli and Roberto Villetti), the Italian ...

party in the Italian general election held on 9 and 10 April 2006. In September 2007, a new campaign against

anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

was again controversial due to his shocking photography of an

emaciated Emaciation is defined as the state of extreme thinness from absence of body fat and muscle wasting usually resulting from malnutrition. Characteristics In humans, the physical appearance of emaciation includes thinned limbs, pronounced and protrud ...

woman (

Isabelle Caro Isabelle Caro Rosenbohm (12 September 1982 – 18 November 2010) was a French model and actress from Marseille, France, who became well known after appearing in a controversial advertising campaign "No Anorexia" which showed Caro with vertebr ...

). When Luciano Benetton returned as executive director of the Benetton Group in January 2018, he brought along Oliviero Toscani. In 2018, Toscani became a member of the Italian

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD).

References

Life magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Toscani, Oliviero Photographers from Milan 1942 births Living people Italian magazine founders Italian magazine editors Italian atheists Benetton people Zurich University of the Arts alumni Italian photographers

References

External links