A contest to find the face of Tuscany, curated by the great photographer Oliviero Toscani

Find out how to become 'la toscana di Toscani'

The Tuscany Region with Oliviero Toscani seeks the face of Tuscany, which will be unveiled during the major event dedicated to women that the Tuscany Region will organize in November this year, a five-day event that will deal with the theme from various perspectives and anticipate the relaunch of the Benvenute in Toscana project, aimed at tourism for women.

Those who wish to apply will be able to do so by sharing from 1 to 3 'au naturel' photographic portraits and 1 short video (lasting less than a minute) in which they tell about themselves and their connection with the Region, to be uploaded to the specially created portal, and also reachable from the Tuscany Region website, www.latoscanaditoscani.it (applications open until September 15). And thus will have the chance to be portrayed by Oliviero Toscani, who has to his credit collaborations with the most important publishing groups and who, in his long career, has photographed important faces such as Monica Bellucci, Claudia Schiffer and Laetitia Casta.

Born in Milan, but always in love with Tuscany, where he has lived for 50 years now, Oliviero Toscani wants to capture its essence through a glance, a smile, whether manifest or concealed, the features and their play of shadows and light...

What he wants to immortalize is 'the Tuscan,' a female face that becomes a symbol of the Region, to which it is not necessary to belong by birth, but by soul, by a sense of bonding and sharing. Because Tuscany is a woman and its history is full of great female names, from Caterina de' Medici to the Electress Palatina, muses such as Dante's Beatrice and Simonetta Vespucci, portrayed by Botticelli in his greatest masterpieces, Artemisia Gentileschi, who lived between Rome and Florence, or, looking at more recent times, Margherita Hack and Oriana Fallaci. Strong, courageous, vital women, emblems of a charm that goes beyond canonical beauty.
To do so, in fact, a contest has been launched aimed at all women aged 18 and older, which is not meant to be a beauty contest, but an opportunity to express love for this Region.

After an initial selection among online applications, the next step will be three casting meetings with Toscani in three different locations in Tuscany. Among these Oliviero Toscani will identify a shortlist of finalists, who will be portrayed by him during a real shoot organized in Florence. It will be from among these that he will finally choose the face of 'la toscana,' which will be presented at the November event dedicated to women and the protagonist of a promotional campaign by the Region of Tuscany and Toscana Promozione Turistica, as well as a video narrating the project, both signed by the great photographer. The selection and the campaign will be followed on all of Tuscany Region's social media with the hashtag #latoscanaditoscani.

Eugenio Giani, President of the Tuscany Region:
"Oliviero Toscani is not only a world-renowned photographer, but also a great communicator who has chosen Tuscany as his home. That is why it is even more an immense pleasure that he is the one to look for the face of the Region. A female face, considering the crucial role that women have always played in our history, which will be the symbol and manifesto of an important event, scheduled for this November, in which women will be the protagonists."

Oliviero Toscani:
"What I am looking for is the face of the soul of Tuscany. Not a commercial, artificial beauty, but a beauty that goes beyond the normal canons and that has no age limits. A face with a personality, a charisma, because this is what characterizes Tuscany. Just think of the Tower of Pisa: only in Tuscany could a crooked tower become famous. This is charisma, an atavistic charisma, which comes from afar. This is what I am looking for."