When Platon Speaks, People Listen

It was standing room only at Platon's "The Art of the Portrait" seminar held at PhotoPlus Expo  in Manhattan on Thursday, as all eyes, and ears, were on the New Yorker photographer as he regaled attendees with the amusing anecdotes behind his famous images. The slide show was riveting and included the infamous Esquire cover of president Clinton, a portrait of Dustin Hoffman (accompanied by the tear-inducing tale of the actor sending Platon's mother 200 white roses on her birthday), and a humbling presentation of his recent military portfolio shot exclusively for the New Yorker on troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"These images are a way of honoring military service to America," Platon told the crowded room as one of the images that flashed on the screen was one that was recently mentioned by President Bush's former Secretary of State Colin Powell during a recent interview on Meet the Press. Platon said that the shot, of a mother draped over a headstone on her soldier son's grave in Arlington Cemetery, especially resonated with him as well as with Powell because on the tombstone there is a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. The dead soldier, said Platon, "was a Muslim but he was also an American." It was a fitting way to end the lecture as the room went dark as the image slowly faded from the screen.

 

– Jacqueline Tobin

Comments

[Robert White]

I really hate I missed Platon's seminar - I've heard he's amazing. Thanks for the blurb.