Portraits of Power
December 4, 2009 1:26 PM   Subscribe

Portraits of Power "An interactive portfolio of portraits by Platon of world leaders, with commentary by the photographer."
posted by gwint (24 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
That picture of Hugo Chavez is not frightening at all, no sir. It definately doesn't look like emerging out of my darkened closet to instigate a little "Revolución Bolivariana."
posted by Panjandrum at 1:42 PM on December 4, 2009


Silvio Berlusconi looks like he has a scotch and a call girl just out of frame.
posted by Babblesort at 1:46 PM on December 4, 2009


The photographer seems to have been really interested in getting the texture of their faces; they're all lit in such a way that all their lines and wrinkles are in sharp relief.
posted by not that girl at 1:54 PM on December 4, 2009


I think the Irish PM is hitting on me.
posted by The Whelk at 2:02 PM on December 4, 2009


As interesting as this is (and it is) I move that we have a SLNYM tag for posts like these.
posted by Danf at 2:03 PM on December 4, 2009


Interesting, most of these came from a five-day shoot at a little studio set up outside the 'green room' of the United Nations. The exception so far has been Obama, whose portrait comes from an earlier shoot he did with Platon. He refused to sit for this particular shoot.
posted by carsonb at 2:05 PM on December 4, 2009


I think the Irish PM is hitting on me.

I can see that. But I actually think that he has aspirations of you and Barney Frank, together, one of these trips over the pond.
posted by Danf at 2:06 PM on December 4, 2009


The PM of Spin and The President of Serbia looks like they should be battling the forces of evil in tights, or themselves.
posted by The Whelk at 2:06 PM on December 4, 2009


I can see that. But I actually think that he has aspirations of you and Barney Frank, together, one of these trips over the pond.

KNOW YOUR NEOLOGISM!

Danf: The amount of alcohol you have to consume to destroy a mental image.

"Man, I saw this youtube video that was so bad, it took 3 danfs of whiskey to undo"
posted by The Whelk at 2:08 PM on December 4, 2009 [2 favorites]


instigate a little "Revolución Bolivariana."

Chavez is unlikely to do that, he is President of Venezuela. You mean Evo Morales. It's a great photo innit?
posted by jontyjago at 2:20 PM on December 4, 2009


"Man, I saw this youtube video that was so bad, it took 3 danfs of whiskey to undo"

If a danf is however much alcohol you have to consume to destroy a mental image, how could it ever take more than one danf to destroy a mental image?
posted by kenko at 2:27 PM on December 4, 2009


If we’re going to run another FPP from an existing print magazine, then we might as well mention the official New Yorker Out Loud podcast interview with Platon, who, it turns out, is a young British guy. He explains the tension involved in the five-day shoot.

It’s downloadable at iTunes, but curiously isn’t listed at the podcast homepage.
posted by joeclark at 2:34 PM on December 4, 2009


Silvio Berlusconi looks like he has a scotch and a call girl just out of frame.

Actually several call girls, and they're doing coke.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:40 PM on December 4, 2009


berlusconi is such a smug fuck. look at that smug fucking face of his.
posted by shmegegge at 2:57 PM on December 4, 2009


All I can see is a local contrast enhancement forged destruction of tone and a two pixel unsharp mask at about 300% to make everyone look like they have pores six feet deep. In other words: why the fuck did this dipshit run so many fantastic faces through Photoshop's "psychopath" filter? Ya know, kobe beef can be turned into ground chuck too, BUT WHY WOULD YOU DO IT?

ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH.
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:10 PM on December 4, 2009 [2 favorites]


If a danf is however much alcohol you have to consume to destroy a mental image, how could it ever take more than one danf to destroy a mental image?

I am sorry. That requires a site visit. And leeches.
posted by Danf at 3:20 PM on December 4, 2009


I think Finland's President was my 6th grade teacher. Something about her expression says, "Mrs. TheHun, your daughter has no grasp of geography." Whatever, President of Finland. If the blue parts on the map aren't water, you tell ME what they are.
posted by katillathehun at 3:22 PM on December 4, 2009


I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of still photographs of Obama, and I have never really "seen" his mole before. It's GIGANTIC. Thank you, Platon, for ensuring that I will always be aware of its existence in the future.
posted by longdaysjourney at 3:33 PM on December 4, 2009


I'm sorry for whatever I did to the president of Finland, but I hope I can make it up to her.


Man, U.K Mefites tell me, does Gordon Brown ALWAYS look like he just rolled out of a limo reeking of cigars and brandy mumbling "Be a love and find my pants, I have tea in several!"?
posted by The Whelk at 4:45 PM on December 4, 2009


I'll trade you six Leaders of Small African Nations plus all the Leaders of EU Countries for one Yulia Tymoshenko of Ukraine.
posted by Creosote at 6:01 PM on December 4, 2009


Is it wrong that while I know nothing about Yulia Tymoshenko's policies or abilities as a leader, I am nonetheless vaguely supportive of her cause she looks like Princess Leia?
posted by The Whelk at 6:03 PM on December 4, 2009


I highly recommend confining yourself to doing a Google Image search on Yulia Tymoshenko and refraining from reading anything about her. Doing the latter rather spoils the illusion that she's a real-world Lady Galadriel.
posted by Creosote at 6:10 PM on December 4, 2009


Oh, good. I was going to look for this when I got home from work as I'd listened to the interview on the BBC World News 'cast this morning. Very interesting asides from Platon about the leaders - the one about Robert Mugabe (about how the next in line refused to sit in the same chair that Mugabe had sat on "(because) there's blood on it.") comes to mind. Not really the things one would usually hear, and adds some depth to the whole affair with inter-country rivalry and all that, and mostly, just what someone who's trying to take pictures of Very Important People™ is thinking about when the sitting occurs.
posted by Zack_Replica at 10:06 PM on December 4, 2009


I guess it is made up of current leaders. I like his portrait of Putin. Time Magazines Man of the Year issue. And the Al Gore; which I believe made him prominent.
posted by captainsohler at 11:34 PM on December 4, 2009


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