What is a Platon portrait about?
Platon photographs those who are fighting for civil and human rights, giving a voice to those who are unheard. His portfolios include photographs of Burmese victims and exiles, Egyptian revolutionaries, and those fighting against oppression in Russia.
What are some unique characteristics of a Platon portrait?
Platon’s trademark photography style has, over the years, become as iconic and recognisable as the famous faces that he photographs. He uses simple lighting setups and often plain white or black backgrounds or just a blank wall, placing all of the emphasis on the subject.
Who is Platon photo of?
Photographer Platon has captured portraits of the most famous and powerful people on the planet: Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and many others.
Why does Platon use black and white?
His graphic arts training lets him explore the places between negative and positive areas in an image. His use of one black and white film and one color film with his decades long exposure to those films, allows him to instinctively discount technicalities, and focus on the job at hand.
What does Platon consider the most important aspect of his work as a portrait photographer?
At the end of the day, Platon says that photography should be close to your heart. The closer it is, the more powerful it is.
What makes Platon different from most other photographers?
For Platon, inspiration comes from culture. Although Platon is known as a photographer, he doesn’t look at other photographs anymore. Most of his inspiration comes from architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are his two absolute heroes. Le Corbusier has inspired Platon’s color and form.
How does Platon get his subjects to relax and pose better for him?
He gets all his subjects to pose by sitting on the same worn old box in his studio. It doesn’t matter if you’re the President of the United States, Adele or Hugo Chavez, they all sit on that same box. Platon shoots on a long lens and it’s amazing how close it allows him to get to his subjects.
What are Platon’s New Yorker portraits?
Platon’s New Yorker portfolios have focused on themes including the U.S Military, portraits of world leaders and the Civil Rights Movement. In 2009, Platon teamed up with Human Rights Watch to help them celebrate those who fight for equality and justice in countries suppressed by political forces.
Where did Platon find his portraits?
Photographer Platon, known for his unflinching close-up portraits of presidents, dictators and other powerful icons of our era, found his in the surgical suites and recovery rooms of a small-town hospital in one of the most traumatized nations on earth, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Where can you see Platon’s portfolio?
Other permanent collections holding Platon’s photography include The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in Tampa, Florida and The Westlicht Museum for Photography in Vienna, Austria and the Scotland National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. In 2013, Platon founded a non-profit foundation named The People’s Portfolio.
What is Platon doing now?
Platon is currently on the board for Arts and Culture at the World Economic Forum and serves as a steward for the Economic Growth and Social Inclusion Initiative. Platon’s life’s work is the subject of a Netflix documentary, Abstract: The Art of Design.