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Tributes have been paid to Oliviero Toscani, the Italian fashion photographer renowned for the provocative images used in Benetton’s advertising campaigns, who has died aged 83.
Toscani, who for two decades was the art director of the global clothing chain, died on Monday after being hospitalised close to his home in the Tuscan town of Cecina.
The Milan-born photographer told Corriere della Sera newspaper in August last year that he had a terminal illness and did not know how long he had to live.
“With great sadness we announce that today, January 13, 2025, our beloved Oliviero has embarked on his next journey,” his family said in a statement on Instagram. “We kindly ask for discretion and understanding at this time.”
Toscani worked for prominent fashion magazines throughout his career including Elle, Vogue, GQ and Harper’s Bazaar, photographing John Lennon, Andy Warhol and the Italian film director Federico Fellini along the way.
But he was best known for images that drew attention to social themes, ranging from HIV/Aids and racism to the death penalty and mafia killings, in the United Colours of Benetton advertising campaigns, mostly in the 1980s.
The most controversial was his use of a photograph of David Kirby, who had Aids, on his deathbed, surrounded by his family, for a 1992 Benetton campaign during the peak of the health crisis in the US.
Other provocative photos included a kiss between a priest and a nun, the faces of men on death row, a black woman breastfeeding a white child and a still-bloody newborn baby with umbilical cord attached.
Toscani’s work was applauded and reviled, provoking consumer backlashes and boycotts of Benetton, with some of the fashion brand’s advertising campaigns censored in Italy and France.
He also courted controversy with his 2007 photograph for the fashion brand Nolita of the model Isabelle Caro, who had severe anorexiaand was pictured nude. She later died of the disease. The image, timed to run in line with Milan fashion week, was displayed on billboards with “No Anorexia” over the photo.
In an interview in 2016 with a photography blog, Toscani said companies had a responsibility to “show [their] social intelligence and sensitivity to the society” around them.
On Monday, Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, said Toscani had left “an indelible mark” on the world of photography and communication.
“His photos and campaigns provoked and made us think,” he added.
Parliamentarians for the Five Star Movement paid tribute to a “visionary and courageous talent” who knew how to “transform photography into a powerful tool for social reflection”.
“With courage and creativity, he challenged convention, breaking patterns and opening new horizons in the world of art and advertising. His visionary talent will continue to inspire future generations.”
Benetton broke ties with Toscani in 2020 after dismissive comments he made about the 2018 bridge collapse in Genoa that killed 43 people. The Benetton family was the main shareholder of the company that managed the bridge at the time of the disaster.
Before his death Toscani had said he was suffering from amyloidosis, in which abnormal protein deposits develop in the body. The rare disease caused him to lose 40kg in a year, he told Corriere last year.
