Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, famed for provocative 1990s Benetton campaigns, dies at 82

By Associated Press

Oliviero Toscani, the photographer behind Benetton’s provocative ad campaigns of the 1990s who later broke with the Italian knitwear brand under controversy, died Monday at age 82.

Toscani disclosed last year that he was suffering from a rare disease and did not know how long he had to live.

“It is with immense pain that we announce that our beloved Oliviero has undertaken his next journey,’’ his wife Kirsti and their three children said in a statement Monday.

Toscani suffered from amyloidosis, a disease characterized by a buildup of abnormal protein deposits in the body. He told Corriere della Sera last August that he lost had 40 kilograms (nearly 90 pounds) in a year, adding, “I don’t know how long I have left to live, but I’m not interested in living like this anyway.”

Toscani said he would like to be remembered “not for any one photo