“These are photographs of my country, the Greek islands. These are people with whom I grew up, and the roots of my life.”
Greece tells Platon’s personal story with the island of Paros, where he has returned throughout his life. He grew up there, and continues to see it as a land of truth and sincerity. At the age of 19, Platon borrowed a camera and went to Paros, where he set out on his photographic odyssey. This exhibition covers 25 years in this journey. By developing his own photographic language, he discovered new Greek stories to tell. He visited the island several times with teams of assistants, building makeshift studios in people’s homes, in clubs, churches, cafés, schools, farms and fishermen’s huts.
The people of the island are known to be shy, but Platon’s background allowed him to open a window onto their existence. These people are his family, his friends, and his inspiration.
Born in London in 1968, Platon was raised in the Greek Isles until his family returned to England in the 1970’s. He attended St. Martin’s School of Art and after receiving his BA with honors in Graphic Design, went on to receive an MA in Photography and Fine Art at the Royal College of Art. After working for British Vogue for several years, he was invited to NY to work for the late John Kennedy Jr. and his political magazine, ‘George’.
After shooting portraits for a range of international publications including the Rolling Stone, the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ and the Sunday Times Magazine, Platon developed a special relationship with Time magazine, producing over 20 covers. In 2007 Platon photographed Russian Premier Vladimir Putin for Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year Cover. This image was awarded 1st prize at the World Press Photo Contest. In 2008 he signed a multi-year contract with the New Yorker. As staff photographer, he has produced a series of large-scale photo essays, two of which won ASME Awards in 2009 and 2010. Platon’s New Yorker portfolios have focused on many themes including President Obama’s Inauguration, the U.S Military, portraits of world leaders and the Civil Rights Movement. The following year, Platon teamed up with Human Rights Watch to help them celebrate those who fight for equality and justice in countries oppressed by political forces. These projects have highlighted human rights defenders from Burma as well as the leaders of the Egyptian revolution. Following his coverage of Burma, Platon photographed Aung San Suu Kyi for the cover of Time – days after her release from house arrest.
Platon’s first monograph ‘Platon’s Republic’, was published in 2004 by Phaidon Press. To coincide with its publication, the work was exhibited internationally, in London at the ex-Saatchi Gallery as well as the Milk Gallery in New York. His second book, ‘Power’ – a collection of portraits of over 100 world leaders – was published in 2011 by Chronicle and following its success was selected by Apple to be released as an app. The book includes portraits of Barack Obama, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Dmitry Medvedev, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Abbas, Tony Blair, Robert Mugabe, Silvio Berlusconi, and Muammar Qaddafi.
In recent years, public speaking has progressively played a major role in Platon’s career as communicator and storyteller. He has been invited as a keynote speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Yale, the London School of Economics, the National Portrait Gallery in London and the International Center of Photography in NY. He has also appeared on a range of television media including Charlie Rose (PBS), Morning Joe (MSNBC), Fareed Zakaria’s GPS (CNN) and the BBC World News.
In 2011, his work was exhibited in New York at the Matthew Marks Gallery and the Howard Greenberg Gallery. The New York Historical Society also exhibited a solo show of Platon’s Civil Rights photographs which remain part of the museum’s permanent collection. Platon’s advertising credits include the United Nations Foundation, Credit Suisse Bank, Exxon Mobil, Diesel, the Wall Street Journal, Motorola, Nike, Converse, Verizon, Vittel, Levi’s, IBM, Rolex, Ray-Ban, Tanqueray, Kenneth Cole, Issey Miyake, Moschino, Timex and Bertelsmann among others.
Platon lives in New York with his wife, daughter and son. He mainly works for The New Yorker. He has published two books, Power and Platon’s Republic.
The opening will be held on Monday, November 5, with Platon in attendance.
REPRESENTATION
CLM US – David Maloney – http://www.clmus.com
EXHIBITION
November 5 – December 8, 2012
COLETTE
213 rue Saint-Honoré
75001 Paris
France
www.colette.fr
