(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 28 - Controversial ex Benetton photographer Oliviero Toscani told Corriere della Sera Wednesday he had a terminal disease called amyloidosis and did not know how long he had to live.
"I've lost 40kg in a year...I don't know how long I have left to live, but I'm not interested in living like this anyway," said the 82-year-old, adding that he was thinking of calling his friend Marco Cappato, a right-to-die activist who has accompanied many Italians to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland despite assisted suicide being officially banned in Italy.
Toscani, who courted controversy with Benetton photo campaigns showing an AIDS sufferer as a pietà and three identical hearts labelled black, white and yellow, as well as others against war, religion and capital punishment, said he would like to be remembered "not for any one photo but for my whole work, for the commitment".
Other provocative snaps included a cheeky jean-clad backside captioned "whoever loves me, follow me," a kiss between a priest and a nun, the faces of men condemned to death, and the body of a woman eaten up by anorexia.
Amyloidosis is a rare disease characterized by a build-up of abnormal protein deposits in the body. (ANSA).