JULY 21st
Photo Credits: Oliviero Toscani
Biography
Oliviero Toscani, son of the first photojournalist of Corriere Della Sera's, was born in Milan in 1942 and studied photography and graphics at the University of the Arts in Zurich from 1961 to 1965. He is known internationally as the creative force behind the world’s most famous newspapers and brands. Throughout the years, he has been working as creator of corporate images and has been carrying out advertising campaigns for Esprit, Chanel, Robe di Kappa, Fiorucci, Prenatal, Jesus, Inter, Snai, Toyota, Ministry of Labor, Health, Artemide, Woolworth and others.
Toscani is involved in many projects. Among the latest: a collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Health, with the Calabria Region, with the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, and several campaigns of interest and social commitment addressing problems such as road safety, anorexia, violence against women and stray dogs.
As a fashion photographer, he collaborates with newspapers and magazines such as Elle, Vogue, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Stern, Liberation and many others, as well as with many international editions of the same magazines. From 1982 to 2000, he created the image, identity, communication strategy and online presence of United Colors of Benetton, turning it into one of the most well-known brands in the world. In 1990, he conceived and directed "Colors", the first global newspaper in the world, and in 1993 he created and directed Fabrica, a research centre for creativity in modern communication. From 1999 to 2000 he worked as creative director of the monthly "Talk Miramax" in New York directed by Tina Brown. Toscani was one of the founders of the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture, has taught visual communication at various universities and has written several books on communication.
After nearly five decades of publishing innovation, advertising, film and television, he is now interested in the creativity of communication applied to various media, producing, with his studio, editorial projects, books, television programs, shows and exhibitions. Since 2007 Oliviero Toscani has been working on "Razza Umana", a photography and video project on the different morphologies and human conditions, to represent all the expressions - physical, somatic, social and cultural characteristics - of humanity, representing more than 100 Italian municipalities, the State of Israel, Palestine, Japan and for the United Nations, Guatemala.
For almost thirty years he has been involved in the "New Italian Landscape" project, which is committed against the deterioration of the Italian territory. Toscani's work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, in Sao Paulo (Brazil), at the Milan Triennale and in modern and contemporary art museums around the world. He has won numerous awards such as four Golden Lions, the UNESCO Grand Prix, two Grand Prix d'Affichage, and many awards from Art Directors Clubs around the world, as well as the prestigious Saatchi & Saatchi "creative hero". In addition, the Academy of Fine Arts of Urbino awarded him the "Il sogno di Piero" award and he received the title of Academic of Honor from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. Oliviero Toscani is an honorary member of the Leonardo Committee and of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.