New Delhi: Gabriele Galimberti, the photographer who shot the controversial Balenciaga campaign claimed that he received death threats and had been a target of severe harassment as a result of the backlash over the disturbing images. The campaign contained photographs of children carrying teddy bears wearing S&M outfits.
Speaking to the Guardian, he said, "I get messages like ‘we know where you live. ‘We are coming to kill you and your family.’ ‘We are going to burn your house.’" The photographer also claimed that 90% of the messages were from people in the US and that he was also receiving threats for images in which he was not involved for they were a part of other ad campaigns.
The campaign in question was the Gift Shop campaign that was shot to promote the brand’s collection of holiday gifts, including champagne glasses, pillows, studded dog bowls, and the infamous teddy bear handbags. But, Galimberti was subjected to harassment regarding another ad campaign as well in which he was not even involved. It was an Adidas x Balenciaga campaign that featured a handbag on top of documents detailing a court case about child pornography. On Twitter, however, the two campaigns were frequently shared simultaneously, raising the suspicion that Galimberti worked on both.
Galimberti claimed that the media frequently juxtaposed his photos with the SCOTUS doc photos, which caused some to believe he was responsible for both photoshoots.
The brand is said to have made an attempt to file a lawsuit against the Adidas x Balenciaga photographer who took the pictures used in the SCOTUS doc, but it was eventually withdrawn. Galimberti, on the other hand, accused the fashion brand and Demna, their creative director, of being negligent in the public outcry, which he claimed had indeed put his personal safety in danger.
Galimberti also disclosed that the kids who served as models for the holiday advertisement were actually the children of Balenciaga employees. He also pointed out that the parents of the kids clutching the teddy bear packs didn't voice any concerns.
"When they saw those bags, everybody was telling them they were punk. Nobody ever mentioned BDSM", he was quoted as saying. He further added, "I can recognise if we are going too far or not, but on that occasion I trust them and I didn’t see anything so wrong."
Galimberti also emphasised that he had little input into the look of the images that he had taken before the shoot. "I’m a documentary photographer. I photograph what I find there … For me, if the room is red or yellow, it doesn’t make any difference.", he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Since then, the company and its creative director, Demna, have apologised and accepted responsibility for the photos. Galimberti, however, who was not a party to the now-dismissed complaint, claimed that Balenciaga's delay resulted in additional harassment.
Describing the photoshoot, Galimberti said, "We took some photos and then the photos were going from my camera to someone’s computer and then they were sending these photos to [someone at] the headquarters of Balenciaga. When they say OK, we simply replaced the mannequin with a real kid", as reported by The Guardian.
Galimberti had never previously worked on a fashion campaign. His earlier work, Toy Stories, which featured kids surrounded by toys, made him famous.