platon

Famed portrait photographer Platon has some really incredible stories to tell. He's photographed some of the most powerful people in the world... once with guns trained on him. But his most powerful political portrait wasn't of a powerful person at all.

It seems CNN is planning to do a whole series with famed portraitist Platon, because only a couple of weeks after they released his BTS account of the portrait he took of Vladimir Putin, they've put out another, much more powerful video.

Back in 2007, world-renown visual storyteller Platon took on an assignment to capture a photograph of Russian president Vladimir Putin. In what would end up being one of the scariest assignments of his life (which is saying a lot given some of the stuff he's covered), his portrait session for TIME's person of the year award involved just a few more guns and guards than most.

Platon (short for Platon Antoniu) is a Greek-English portrait photographer who has had the privilege of photographing some of the world's most powerful people. From literal world leaders, to cultural world leaders, to regular people who are changing the world one day at a time, his photography has earned him many well-deserved awards and magazine covers.

Last week, he spoke to the folks at the Wired Business Conference about his work, and Wired was kind enough to share the video online.

Capture is a new show hosted by world-renowned celebrity photographer …

Update on 12/18/21: This video has been removed by its creator.

TIME Magazine's latest cover features a photograph of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung Sang Suu Kyi, with the feature story offering a glimpse into her life since being released from house arrest. The above is an interesting video in which Platon, the photographer behind the photo, tells the harrowing tale of what it took to make the photo. It's guaranteed to make most portrait assignments sound extremely boring.