Nostalgia for a Marriage: Oliviero Toscani & United Colors of Benetton
“A man can watch half an hour of television and think that he’s seen a civil war in Africa, the disappearing rain forests in the Amazon and genocide in Bosnia. In truth, he hasn’t seen a thing. In truth, he was seated in his armchair and saw images that were presented, accelerated, slowed down and mediated by someone else. You can’t learn anything passively. (…) What about still images? Can’t they be just as manipulative? No, because they work at a subjective rhythm. You react to a photograph according to your own tempo. A photograph permits a first viewing, and then an individual reflection. It solicits participation, and encourages individuality in interpretation. Television is an autarchy, a dictatorship”. – From an interview with Oliviero Toscani in Newsweek, June 13, 1994
Oliviero Toscani is an Italian photographer.
For those who do not recognise his name, perhaps you will recognise some of the images below. They represent a sample of Toscani’s work as the creative half of a near-two-decade marriage (1982-2000) with clothing brand United Colors of Benetton. Whether stemming from a conscious and cynical marketing savvy or a genuine moralistic desire to open minds, there is no denying the artistic power of these images. Always controversial while the partnership lasted, Benetton never used a single branded product within their mainstream campaigns. These images act as a profound, brutal and often shocking expatiation on issues of AIDs, racism, conflict, anorexia, religion and capital punishment. It was controversy over the 2000 “Death Row” campaign which led to the artist and the brand finally parting ways. It was a marriage which far exceeded the sum of its parts. Benetton has never matched the sales it achieved under Tusconi, and the artist has yet to produce work of the impactful quality that he did under Benetton.
In an interview with TIME Magazine, Toscani imagined an archeologist from a thousand years in the future digging up an issue of the magazine, circa 2007. What he said is insightful:
“Maybe on the cover he’ll find a poignant photograph of AIDS in Africa. Then he’ll open up the magazine and see a photograph advertising a shiny Mercedes… And then he’ll see a big spread on the lost children of Brazil, which is followed by a double-page photograph for Chanel perfume… Our archaeologist will wonder what the hell was going on back then!… All I’ve done is put a news photo in the ad pages.”
Looking back to his work a decade later, it is no less relevant. It still makes us shuffle uncomfortably in our seats, it still makes us pause and draw in breath, and it still leaves a strange taste in the mouth and a lasting imprint on the psyche.
Amazing images... truly groundbreaking - particularly in marketing.
I'll definitely have to look into this. Thank you!
[...] My top is from Benetton. I bought it at the outlet in Milan, Italy. Benetton is an italian company. Their ad campaigns are famous globally for moral controversies. Olivieri Toscano had been the photographer for a long time, especially in the 90s. Most of the ads had been banned in USA, but not on the Internet. Read more at The Urban Times. [...]
[...] http://www.theurbn.com/2010/08/oliviero-toscani/ [...]
[...] our gaze towards one of the greatest and most creative publicity partnerships of all time, Oliviero Toscani‘s “near-two-decade marriage (1982-2000) with clothing brand United Colors of [...]
[...] Some examples of the controversial ads that Oliviero Toscani shot for United Colors of Benetton. [...]