Interview Olivero Toscani: Terror In Advertising

Olivero Toscani is one of the world's most adroit and controversial visual communicators.

Praised by admirers as a master of the frozen image-and reviled by critics as a "visual terrorist" the 52-year-old Italian photographer repeatedly tests the limits of tolerance and good taste in his provocative photo campaigns for Benetton.

In addition to working as a photographer, Toscani teaches a course in communications at La Sapienza University in Rome.

He recently spoke with NEWSWEEK's Ken Shulman at his home outside Pisa. Excerpts:

SHULMAN: Do you really think that you can Improve sales at Benetton with posters of a terminal AIDS patient, of a black priest kissing a white nun, or of multicoloured condoms?

TOSCANI: At Benetton, I am not asked to sell, because I am not capable of selling. My role with the company is as a communicator, to make people say that perhaps our company interests them. And also perhaps to screen our clients. I believe that it' s not bad to look at something that makes you think. I want to photograph a certain reality that surrounds us, a reality in which we all take part, even someone who produces sweaters. AIDS exists, just like racism and war exist. They aren't abstract, the way that fashion and advertising can be abstract.