Oliviero Toscani for United Colors of Benetton

(For the Visual Culture Studies class)

• 1)In this picture we can see a gay activist and AIDS victim David Kirby as he lay on his death bed surrounded by his family members. The colors on the photo are a bit muted because the original photo was black and white and after in was colored with oil pain by artist Ann Rhoney. David Kirby is really physically exhausted his arms are really thin his face is almost unrecognizable he has sunken cheeks which makes his cheekbones look really big. Skin almost look like it was tightly stretched around that to repeat all its silhouettes. His gaze is really detached from the world it looks really faded there is no life in this gaze his mouth is a bit opened too. Family members all look really frightened and in sorrow especially the father he really carefully hugs David by the head and his arm mother hugs the daughter while she looks at her son with eyes which are almost on the verge of tears the daughter looks frightened almost like she doesn’t understand what is happening and there’s another person who is holding David’s arm with a ring on his finger.
  The room itself looks like normal hospital there is flowers on the door and a really interesting picture above the bed of a men who’s head we can’t see in blue robe who gently gives us a hand. All family members are dressed in pretty normal clothes and David is covered in blankets.
  2)The whole scene is really dramatic and sad the family members who see the loss oh their family members the parents who witness the loss of their child it’s really dramatic everything has almost a religious feel to it in means of a a story and this picture above of someone who’s face we can’t see really elevates that feel like he offers a hand to heaven or something like that. This is a really powerful image and it’s making its job greatly in terms of showing people what AIDS can do with people and throug what suffering can family members would come.
  3)We have a clear message that this picture give us that something should be changed in terms of AIDS policy to prevent scenes like that but at the same time this is a advertisements so it shows that he brand cares about those problems its shows that the brand offers help for people it because it wants to help people in this situation so as you can offer help by buying their clothes.
  
  4)This advertisements is really a game changer because when this add came out in 1991 people weren’t really allowed to speak about AIDS problem so this was a really risky an provocative thing to do because this add shows the true horrors of the diseases.
  5)There is a lot of things which can be changed on this photo without losing the meaning like clothes colors of the walk hairstyles of people’s appearance overhaul 
  the place itself doesn’t really matter too.
  6)The emotions can’t be changed the poses of the body the people can’t be changed.