Background
Platon is a photographer, public speaker, and founder of the non-profit organization, The People's Portfolio. Born in London in 1968, Platon first got his name from when he was still a student at St. Martin's School of Art in London when he was working for British Vogue. Platon currently lives in Soho, New York with his wife. He originally was a portrait photographer, which ended up gaining him popularity and providing him with the opportunity to work with more popular figures. Platon has worked with many notable companies including, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, TIME, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, and The Sunday Times. |
Philosophy
Platon's main focus is the individual he is photographing. He tries to hone in on their specific personality and aims to capture them in his photographs. Many of the individuals Platon photographs are public figures, whether it be a politic figure like the president, or a famous artist, Platon always gears his photos towards that specific person or group. By cutting out any outside "noise" from his photo, Platon places a direct spotlight on the person and what they are trying to convey through their emotions. He tries not to interfere more than maybe helping people relax in the environment of lights and cameras by creating light, stimulating conversation, but otherwise allows his subjects to do as they please. He works around his subject, not altering them to fit a mold, but altering himself and his ideals to try and match his subjects.
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Style
Over the years Platon has developed a very distinct style that allows his followers to immediately identify his work. He is most known for his portraits that plaster the covers of magazines found on every street corner. His style primarily focuses on capturing the subject's face using a wide angle lens. Platon focuses all his energy making sure that his subjects are comfortable and aims to capture their personality with his photos. He later goes in with a heavy vinaigrette along the edges of the photo using a darkroom and prefers to use minimal gear and heavy lighting. What makes his style unique is that he doesn't focus too much on the shooting style, but focuses on bringing emotions out of his subjects. |
I really like the contrast between the flowers placed in her hair and the darkness of her hair in this photo.
My subject was male and did not have long hair, so I experimented with another type of contrast and had him wear sunglasses to create the contrasting effect between his dark sunglasses and lighter skin tone. |
aung san suu kyi |
pablo aquiles |
luci leonor |
zhang ziyi |
maya lin |
josie anderson |
In this photo I thought of recreating it more with the concept as a whole. I don't know much about Magnus Carlsen, but I interpreted this photo that he has an interest in chess. I thought that I would try and recreate this photo with something that my subject was interested in herself.
My subject, similarly to Carlsen is holding the object of interest near her face. I see chess as something that takes a lot of concentration, and that how I interpreted his expression. My subject on the other hand is smiling because a cell phone is a means of communication and entertainment which are both seen as happy. |
julia huang |
magnus carlsen |
This photo is captured in a way that makes the woman look very soft and angelic. This is done by making her clothes, hair, and even face look softer in the photo.
I attempted to mimic this technique and produce an image that was soft. My photo is soft in it's own way. I tried not to create too heavy of a contrast to try and mimic this photo, and try and attain this "softer look". |
rachel weisz |
jodie hamilton |