Renowned photographer Oliviero Toscani dies at 82

Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, noted for his provocative campaign images for fashion brand Benetton, has passed away, his family announced. He was 82.

Toscani became Benetton’s creative director in the 1980s, breaking away from traditional fashion photography with shocking campaign images, including those of dying AIDS patients, a nun kissing a priest, and a bloodied soldier’s uniform in Bosnia. His work made Benetton a global name, using fashion to address social issues, yet also sparked controversy for allegedly exploiting human suffering for commercial gain.

Toscani criticized traditional advertising’s promise of enhanced self-worth through products. He left Benetton in 2000 after a dispute over a campaign featuring death row inmates but returned in 2018, causing controversy again with migrant rescue images.

In 2020, Benetton severed ties with him after he downplayed the Genoa bridge disaster that killed 43 people, a remark for which he later apologized. Last year, Toscani disclosed to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he suffered from amyloidosis, a rare life-threatening disease.

He died on Monday at a hospital in Cecina, Tuscany.

Source: NOS

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