Analysis of Oliviero Toscani’s “Tongues” Photo for United Colors of Benetton
Visual Communication – Individual Assignment
Student: Loredana Patricia Pădureanu
Analysis of Oliviero Toscani’s “Tongues” Photo for United Colors of Benetton
The picture chosen for analysis is one taken by Oliviero Toscani for a United Colors of Benetton campaign. The picture depicts three children – one African-American, one Caucasian and one Asian – all sticking their tongues out, from where the name of the advertisement – “Tongues”. This campaign for Benetton was launched in February 1991 and it was highly controversial. For example, “this image was deemed "pornographic" and subsequently withdrawn from display in Arab countries, where the depiction of an internal organ is prohibited” (United Colors of Benetton, 2005). This specific picture was chosen for interpretation because it has a playful feel, the children’s eyes are very expressive and therefore the picture as a whole has a very strong visual impact on the individual. Moreover, the picture is very simple in colors and composition, but we believe it manages to transmit many emotions, to create complex feelings. In order to both analyze what is obvious in this picture and to unveil its hidden meanings, we must refer to the concept of visual culture. According to Becker (1998), “to describe a culture as visual means that shared knowledge of a group of people or of a large collective, the ways of knowing and the webs of significance they give rise to have their base in vision”. Therefore, nowadays, the importance of vision is crucial to understanding, as we are surrounded by images at every step. In order to interpret the Benetton advertisement, some theoretical perspectives must be applied, because “facts are only facts in the context of some theory” (Barnard, 2001). Firstly, one of the theoretical frames that we believe is the most appropriate in this case is the one that considers the role of expression for understanding visual culture. This theory states that both the “productive
Student: Loredana Patricia Pădureanu
Analysis of Oliviero Toscani’s “Tongues” Photo for United Colors of Benetton
The picture chosen for analysis is one taken by Oliviero Toscani for a United Colors of Benetton campaign. The picture depicts three children – one African-American, one Caucasian and one Asian – all sticking their tongues out, from where the name of the advertisement – “Tongues”. This campaign for Benetton was launched in February 1991 and it was highly controversial. For example, “this image was deemed "pornographic" and subsequently withdrawn from display in Arab countries, where the depiction of an internal organ is prohibited” (United Colors of Benetton, 2005). This specific picture was chosen for interpretation because it has a playful feel, the children’s eyes are very expressive and therefore the picture as a whole has a very strong visual impact on the individual. Moreover, the picture is very simple in colors and composition, but we believe it manages to transmit many emotions, to create complex feelings. In order to both analyze what is obvious in this picture and to unveil its hidden meanings, we must refer to the concept of visual culture. According to Becker (1998), “to describe a culture as visual means that shared knowledge of a group of people or of a large collective, the ways of knowing and the webs of significance they give rise to have their base in vision”. Therefore, nowadays, the importance of vision is crucial to understanding, as we are surrounded by images at every step. In order to interpret the Benetton advertisement, some theoretical perspectives must be applied, because “facts are only facts in the context of some theory” (Barnard, 2001). Firstly, one of the theoretical frames that we believe is the most appropriate in this case is the one that considers the role of expression for understanding visual culture. This theory states that both the “productive
Bibliography: Barnard, M. (2001). Approaches to understanding visual culture. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Becker, K. (1998). The Image in Visual Culture. In C. Heideken, Xposeptember (pp. 17-40). Stockholm: Stockholm fotofestival. Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved 02 03, 2011, from Oliviero Toscani Studio: http://www.olivierotoscanistudio.com Tonkins, R.. (2010). Oliviero Toscani. Retrieved 02 03, 2011, from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/13/oliviero.toscani/index.html Toscani Tested. (n.d.). Retrieved 02 03, 2011, from The Photography Pages: http://www.thephotographypages.co.uk/articles/toscani-tested/ United Colors of Benetton. (2005). About Benetton - Our Campaigns . Retrieved 02 03, 2011, from Benetton Group: http://press.benettongroup.com/ben_en/about/campaigns/list/tongues/?version=1 Walker, J. A., & Chaplin, S. (1997). Modes of analysis. In Visual Culture: an introduction (pp. 128-143). Manchester & New York: Manchester University Press. Appendix Oliviero Toscani for United Colors of Benetton – “Tongues” [pic]