Monday, 29 September 2008

Oliviero Toscani




An Italian photographer and art director, who trained at the Dada and Bauhaus influenced Zurich Design School (I believe you can particularly see the Dada influence in his work).  He is notorious for his work with Benetton, with whom he abandoned any form of conventional advertising photography, and instead flouted taboos associated with race, war, sex, religion, death etc.  The campaigns use juxtaposition as the main tool to create meaning by using socially unmentionable subjects to create awareness of different issues, and virtually all created some sort of public outcry. 

The most infamous images included the dying David Kirby (of AIDS) and images of death-row prisoners, which due to the backlash from the victims families caused Benetton to lose a major contract, and Toscani to finish his tenure with the company. 

At least his campaigns kept everyone talking about Benetton, and he dared show the unmentionables.  What taboos are left...?


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