One of my favorite things from the photo-web-universe is the 2008 interview of portrait photographer Platon from World Press Photo where he describes the circumstances behind one of my favorite portraits of all time: the cover shot of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Vladimir Putin. The photograph won first prize in portraiture at World Press that year, and the story behind it is amazing for russophiles and to gain huge appreciation for what Platon goes through to get his images. If you haven’t seen or heard it yet, you must go listen. (click on the 2008 tab)

Jump to today, when a few people alerted me to The New Yorker’s presentation of Platon’s Portraits of Power. Each image of a world leader, taken in a five-day period at the UN this September, is accompanied by audio of Platon talking about the photograph, the situation, the person sitting.

It’s rich, inspiring and above all enlightening. You gotta have a look.

WTJ had this first as far as I can tell and then APE took it up. Check out official Election Night pictures on Flickr, posted by Obama for America photographer David Katz. (And sorry to mislead with the post’s title, I only wish this could have been a link to Obama’s portfolio)

There are a number of things that make these shots interesting for me. First of course is the ‘access’.. These are truly behind-the-scenes pictures that I doubt are attainable by someone outside the inner circle (shame, can you imagine what a real photojournalist could have pulled out of this?). But I am still left wondering, how unguarded are Obama and his entourage really? I look at this picture in particular and think, ‘do people really embrace like this in private?’. I don’t see how this formulaic pose can be both earnest in private and in public. There many less-guarded pictures in there, which are remarkable to see, but it still feels that Obama and the people around him are ‘on’ and aware of their image .. it makes me wonder when, if ever, they can really turn it ‘off’.

But more interesting, as I pointed out last night in a post about change.gov, is the apparent demeanor of Obama on this night (quiet, weighted, tired). Michael Shaw over at BAGNewsnotes wrote on election night about similar feelings surrounding his impression of Obama that night. I think we both see it as a fascinating thing to witness.

I was hoping these Flickr pictures would give us a better impression of Obama’s reaction in private, hedging the idea that he calculated his public performance, and reservations about camera-awareness aside, I think they do open something of another channel to understanding the weight of this moment on Obama the individual. There aren’t many pictures of him smiling. And there surely isn’t anything close to ‘Jube’ (sports photography slang for emotional/winning pictures).. like we see on tv (cool video from Slate V about the similarities between Obama and the TV show The West Wing. Go about 3:10 in to the video to see what I mean). By everything I’ve seen and treating all the images as opposite sides of the coin it appears that he was not acting differently before he took stage and when he was up in front of us; this moment seems to have hit him very seriously. As it should. That his true emotions, which at first take are so removed from typical campaigning and public appearance shots, shine through is a testament to his grounded reality and temperament. He didn’t put on a show to make us feel better about him or our chances: the true weight of the moment and the times ahead were on his face. And that seems very different than other politicians, who often are actors on stage with very calculated expressions and emotion. It would be interesting to look at other Presidential acceptance speeches to see if such a change in persona is typical.

Now couple this with WTJ’s news from Platon (in the same post as the Flickr link) that he was set to take the first portrait of President-Elect Obama immediately after the speech. He says it best: “Unfortunately we didn’t get to do the session. We were prepped and on call; ready to make the most of our 60 seconds. In the end and after all that had happened that evening he chose to spend time with his family over doing the shoot.” I’ll agree with Mrs. Hetherington (Mrs. WTJ) that this seems to be another indication of Obama’s character as well as his relationship to the mainstream media. He isn’t beholden to them and won’t do simply what they want. Interesting … and something to watch as time goes on. What will the access, visually in particular, be to an Obama presidency?

Mentioned here previously, Platon’s work on the American military for the New Yorker is in the news today. Former US secretary of state Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for the upcoming presidential election and, while doing so, brought up the picture at the top of this post.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afganistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was a mother in Arlington Cemetry, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian Cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American.”

There’s been a great deal of over-the-top rhetoric about Barack Obama’s heritage and his middle name, Hussein, which have led many of Obama’s detractors to call him a Muslim or an Arab (as if that were somehow a bad thing). While it’s hard to support everything Colin Powell has done in his political career, one has to respect such a public repudiation of hateful prejudices manifesting in current politics, and it’s great to see strong photography mentioned so prominently in connection with a call for decorum, rationality, and decency on the campaign trail.

(via PDNPulse)

Just got a look at this great work by Platon for the New Yorker. The usual style, for the portraits, but I’d never really seen his documentary style beyond a few so-so examples on his website. These pictures, though, capture the malaise, exuberance, uncertainty, confidence, and all the other emotions wrapped up in America’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The kid in the uniform struck me as overly cutesy and sentimental at first, but the accompanying text discovers the significance of the shot: Sergeant John McKay, a marine whose uncle and grandfather were marines, and whose three-year-old son posed in uniform at the wedding of a cousin, also a marine, said, “He’s just waiting till he’s eighteen.” He went on, “I’m scared for him, but if he wants to do it I’ll support him.” There’s some audio from Platon about the project, too. If you haven’t already, check out Platon talking about his shoot with Putin over at the World Press site. Click on 2008 and then the thumbnail of Putin.

(via APADnews)