Platon

Powerful Portraits

Tuesday, March 5, 2024
7:30 P.M. at Texas Hall

Platon is a world-renowned photographer who has shot portraits for a range of international publications, including Rolling Stone, The New York Times magazine, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, British Vogue, George, and The Sunday Times magazine. He has also produced over 20 covers for TIME magazine, and his 2007 cover photo of Vladimir Putin was awarded first prize at the World Press Photo Contest.

In 2008, he signed a multiyear contract with The New Yorker. As the staff photographer, he has produced several large-scale photo essays, two of which won American Society of Magazine Editors awards in 2009 and 2010.

In 2009, Platon teamed up with Human Rights Watch to help celebrate those who fight for equality and justice in countries suppressed by political forces. In 2011, he was honored with a Peabody Award for his collaboration on the topic of Russia's civil society with The New Yorker magazine and Human Rights Watch.

Platon has published four books of his work: Platon’s Republic, Power, China: Through the Looking Glass, and Service. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the world. In 2013, Platon founded The People’s Portfolio, a foundation that seeks to create a visual language that breaks barriers, expands dignity, fights discrimination, and enlists the public to support human rights around the world. He is currently on the board for arts and culture at the World Economic Forum, a steward for the Economic Growth and Social Inclusion Initiative, and creative director at large for the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia.