Portraits of Power, by Platon
Portraits of Power, president of South Africa Jacob Zuma, by Platon
And so what did the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ask the photographer before the shutter clicked? “Platon,” he said, “make me look good.”
This past September, when nearly all the world’s leaders were in New York for a meeting of the United Nations, Platon, a staff photographer for this magazine, set up a tiny studio off the floor of the General Assembly, and tried to hustle as many of them in front of his lens as possible. For months, members of the magazine’s staff had been writing letters to various governments and embassies, but the project was a five-day-long improvisation, with Platon doing his best to lure the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chávez, and Muammar Qaddafi to his camera. (fromThe New Yorker)
Listen to the very interesting interview with Platon (iTunes, New Yorker Out Loud Podcast) where he refers to this project as the most grueling work he has ever done in photography.
Well, I cannot say that Platon made flattering portraits of the people. Gordon Brown looks like that character from Mad Magazine who always says “What me worry?”
That was seriously interesting. The portrait of Ahmadinejad was especially fascinating, goes to show that even the battiest world leaders are still human.
I agree Andy … the portrait of Ahmadinejad is very good, … I also found intriguing (not sure if there was a purpose) that the background for that portrait was black vs the white one used in most …
Best regards,
Miguel
I think that some portraits work and others are a bit cheese to me. It is certain that the whole process was quite challenging and he had very short time to take the pictures, so some work better that others … the one the is particularly expressive is the portrait of Berlusconi … that smile.
Miguel