A lens into the soul

“Great design simplifies a complicated world”

In the episode of Abstract, I watched Platon - a photographer that has been well known for capturing head on portraits of celebrities and leaders around the globe. Originally from Greece, Platon immigrated to Europe and started his journey in photography before being scouted. This episode not only touches on the simplicity of Platon in his craft, but also the personal struggles he has overcome in the pursuit of being a photographer.

During the first half of the episode, I thought that Platon had a demure attitude and liked to keep to himself. His method of inciting a reaction from the subjects of his photos were somewhat strange to me. For example, in his photoshoot with General Colin Powell, halfway through the photoshoot he bursts and shouts “AMAZING!” so as to incite a reaction but also create some sort of intimacy between him and the people he takes photos of. Gradually as the story of Platon unfolded, I realized his humility and composed attitude stemmed from a horrific incident when he was in London – when he got jumped by a man and beaten up terribly.

I think his strength and work has been heavily influenced on how he shoots and directs photos today. Platon has a way of simplifying photography in his images by only focussing on “the story, the message, the feeling and the connection”. He focusses on the eyes and facial expressions of the people he photographs so as to get a preview of their soul. I think his work is pretty iconic as there’s a standardization to all his work. His consistency can be attributed to the fact that he has used the same lens, film, light and umbrella for all his portrait shots, which makes him stand out as a professional photographer.

This made me think about professional photography and iPhone photography. With many people having access to an iPhone, photography has lost its meaning of connecting with others and telling a story, but simply a snapshot for social media. Whereas, professional photography requires time to connect with the people you are taking pictures with which is much more intimate.