Abstract: The Art of Design — Platon
I have found Netflix shows to be a bit hit and misss, but their documentary series “Abstract: The Art of Design” is one of the best things I’ve watched in a long time. There are 8 episodes in the first season — fingers crossed for more — and each one follows a creative from a particular industry, such as Illustration, Graphic Design and Architecture. My favourite episode was about the photographer called ‘Platon.’
I had not heard of him before seeing the episode, but I was amazed at how many of his striking portrait photos I had seen before of world leaders, artists, entertainers and just the everyday person. It was really interesting to see how he works and tries to capture the essence of someone in just a fraction of a second.
Platon talks about his severe dyslexia that he has been a very defining part of his life. For him to make sense of the world, he has to keep things as simple as possible. He also began his career as a graphic designer where one of the key learnings is about the importance of simplicity.
Platon uses just one camera for his portrait photos — the Hasselblad 553 ELX — and uses just one type of Kodak film. He gets all his subjects to pose by sitting on the same worn old box in his studio. It doesn’t matter if you’re the President of the United States, Adele or Hugo Chavez, they all sit on that same box. Platon shoots on a long lens and it’s amazing how close it allows him to get to his subjects. It seems to allow him to really connect with them on a deep level. It must be intimidating having a big camera lens so close to their face, but Platon really seems to be able to put them at ease.
Most of the time he is looking down into his camera just waiting for the perfect time to press the shutter. With digital photography being so normal these days — it’s hard to comprehend how Platon knows he’s got what he’s looking for without seeing that preview image on the LCD panel. Also, digital cameras allow photographers to take hundreds, even thousands of photos — Platon doesn’t have this luxury.
After looking at a contact sheet of images, Platon will select a negative to be scanned by a drum scanner once owned by NASA. Once scanned it brings out a beautiful grain that I can only imagine is one of the main reasons not to shoot in digital. Photoshop is used, but Platon emphasises that it is only very minimally used and is always done by hand.
The most moving part of the episode is when we see Platon travel to the war ravaged Congo to take photos of women who have been raped. It is heartbreaking to hear their stories, but Platon could not be more sensitive to them and explains how the power of these photos can perhaps stop this from happening to other women. The portrait he takes of Esther and her son Josue is filled with emotions. You feel their pain and despair, but there’s also a strength there that is very powerful.
A brilliant series! Give it a watch if you haven’t already.
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