Portaits of the powerful and polarizing: World Press Photo winner recalls his photo shoot with Putin

 

 

I find capturing portraits intimidating enough when I'm dealing with friendly, everyday people. Greek photographer Platon Antoniou -- better known by the mononym Platon -- has photographed many far more formidable subjects, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Libyan Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi.

In 2007, Platon photographed Vladimir Putin for Time Magazine's Person of the Year cover. His image would go on to to win the first prize in the Portraits (Singles) category of the World Press Photo contest the following year. In all, Platon's work has graced the cover of Time over 20 times. He recently spoke to Huffington Post about the experience of capturing the portrait of Putin. You can see the video interview below.

It's interesting how Platon tried to break the ice and relate to Putin to capture a portrait of the controversial figure. I think this is part of what sets him apart and has allowed him to capture powerful portraits of such a diverse group of people.

To see more of Platon's work, visit his website.

(Seen via Fstoppers)