Sarasota News Leader

01/31/2014

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His goal is to strip away the façade, what Platon calls "branding," to reach the true char- acter of the person; however, "sometimes the mask tells you more about the truth than the truth does." Whether or not you agree with his characterizations of the people he has captured on film, it is interesting to examine the subjects from a different viewpoint. The first picture showed a 30-year-old home- less woman in Russia who told Platon, "I wish you happiness. If I'm kind to somebody, some- body will be kind to me." Often his commentary dealt with social conditions. While he has worked with world leaders and entertainment figures, he said his "most important photos were of ordinary people." He also professed "a deep lack of trust in authority." He believes "We're all important … Someone isn't more than us; they just have a different job." The stories behind the portraits were often humorous, sometimes educational, but always entertaining. Platon told the audience, "I'm not a photographer. I'm a storyteller." He recalled the intense security surrounding Putin when he photographed him at Putin's dacha in Russia — and that to find a source of power for his equipment, he almost unplugged the "red phone." The security personnel pre- vented that mistake. In a different vein, he noted the guitar Willie Nelson was hugging in his portrait was placed Platon takes a closer look at himself through the eyes of Victor Maury. Sarasota News Leader January 31, 2014 Page 88

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