PHAIDON PRESS PUBLISHES FIRST BOOK BY PHOTOGRAPHER PLATON

In 2004, Phaidon Press published PLATON’S REPUBLIC, a collection of over 120
portraits taken by Platon from the 1990s to 2003. Known for his bold and
graphic signature portrait style, Platon has been commissioned by some of
the world’s most influential magazines to photograph some of the most
prominent people of our time.

Included in PLATON’S REPUBLIC are politicians, actors, directors,
architects, artists, musicians and athletes. Seen are former presidents
George Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter; American politicians, senators and
government leaders Rudy Giuliani, John Kerry, Edward Kennedy, Jesse Jackson;
and from England, the former leader of the Labor Party, Michael Foot, and
the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. From the media are 60 Minutes’
journalist Mike Wallace, CNN guru Larry King, commentator Studs Turkel,
watchdog Matt Drudge. From inside and outside Hollywood are directors Martin
Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Erroll Morris. Actors Al Pacino, Keanu Reeves,
Anjelica Huston, Benicio Del Toro. From the music world are Quincy Jones,
Michael Stipe, Chuck D., Leonard Cohen. Architects Daniel Libeskind and John
Pawson. International soccer star David Beckham and prizefighter Oscar De La
Hoya. Fashion designers Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood.
Artists Gilbert and George, Yoko Ono, and Peter Blake. Photographer Helmut
Newton. And the list goes on and on.

Most are considered celebrities and household names, but Platon also has
captured the faces of prejudice, controversy, crisis and pride in portraits
that include the mother of an assassin, neo-Nazi skinheads in North
Carolina, demonstrators and activists at an execution in Texas, surviving
Congressman who fought in the Vietnam War, among others. There is also
documentary work and “collective portraits” of two cultures in grief taken
during the respective aftermaths of September 11th in New York and the
funeral of Princess Diana in London.

Consequentially, various timely themes and issues — such as what defines
power and “staying power,” the undeniable presence of fame and celebrity in
the culture, the current international dialogue between America and Britain,
the sweeping transformation between the Clinton and Bush eras — emerge
throughout the book.

Trained as a graphic designer, Platon’s sharp visual language is reflected
in the layout of PLATON’S REPUBLIC. Designed by Platon himself, the book is
not broken down into chapters dictated by chronology or category, but rather
evolves in a rhythmic sequence of what Platon considers “channel surfing
through contemporary culture.” An intimate portrait of the controversial
musician and performer Marilyn Manson is juxtaposed with one of Dr. Robert
Schuller, the ubiquitous TV evangelist and head of the Crystal Cathedral
Church. The Reverend Al Sharpton gives the sign of black power, followed by
a severe close-up of Jesse Helms, one of the key mobilizers of the religious
right. Series of iconic studio portraits are punctuated with documentary
images, appearing as spreads throughout the book.

PLATON’S REPUBLIC concludes with “What’s It All About?” Thirty pages of
personal scrapbooks provide a first person, hand-written, behind-the-scenes
account of what it was like to meet his subjects and what occurred during
the photo shoots, along with other special memories, recollections and
anecdotes. Designed with French folds, the book’s jacket reveals a hidden
version of the scrapbooks, playfully reproduced at a very small scale.
Many subjects share the book’s cover in a brilliant and dense collage Platon
created over the course of one year. Looking like a mushroom cloud, the
organic shape represents what Platon calls “the explosion of culture” and a
mixture of both the high and the low.

ABOUT PHAIDON PRESS

Phaidon Press is the award-winning publisher of illustrated books on art,
architecture, photography, design, decorative arts, fashion, film and more.
With headquarters in London, it has offices in New York, Paris and Berlin.
Phaidon Press publishes the work of some of the world’s most important
photographers. Recent books include major collections and monographs by
James Nachtwey, Steve McCurry, Rene Burri, Martin Parr, Elliott Erwitt, Luc
Delahaye, David Alan Harvey, Li Zhensheng, David Doubilet, Roy DeCarava,
Eugene Richards and Nan Goldin.

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