First book by celebrity portrait photographer, PLATON, to be published in June 2004. Major debut at exhibition and special book launch in New York.

PLATON'S REPUBLIC (Phaidon Press, $59.95, 240 pages), a collection of over 120 iconic portraits taken by Platon during the past decade, will be published in June 2004. Known for his bold and graphic signature portrait style, Platon has been commissioned by some of the worlds 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. Platon has designed an exceptional one-time NYC exhibition to celebrate the book's publication. Held at Milk Gallery (June 17-26), the exhibition will travel to London and other cities throughout 2004 and 2005. The opening night party (Wed., June 16) will bring PLATON'S REPUBLIC to life and buzz to the gossip pages. Rubbing shoulders will be celebrities and subjects from the book, along with major influencers and players from the worlds of photo and fashion, advertising and media, film and music, art and design, politics and culture, and more.

New York, (PRWEB) May 21, 2004 -- Platon's photos have captured people - famous, infamous, anonymous - in ways that reveal them, in ways that unveil them, in ways that leave them open to entirely new interpretations. He is an artist working in a commercial form and that combination makes him the most distinctive photographer at work today." ~ David Granger, Editor in Chief, Esquire

Seen in PLATON'S REPUBLIC 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, Errol 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 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, Platons 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 Whats 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 books jacket reveals a hidden version of the scrapbooks, playfully reproduced at a very small scale.

Many subjects share the books 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.

MORE ABOUT PLATON

Platons full name is Platon Antoniou, a Greek name pronounced in the French manner. But he goes by Platon for simplicitys sake."

Born in London in 1968, Platon was raised in the Greek Isles by his English mother, an art historian, and Greek father, an architect, until the age of seven when his family returned to London. He attended St. Martins School of Art, and after receiving his BA with honors in Graphic Design, he was then awarded an MA in photography and fine art at the Royal College of Art, where one of his professors and mentors was the late John Hind, the creative director of British Vogue. While still a student, he received British Vogues Best up-and-coming Photographer" award in 1992, along with the opportunity to contribute both fashion and portrait images to the magazine.

Now an Englishman in New York, Platon left London in 1998 after spending a few years working for George, the magazine about politics and media culture founded by the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. Recruited to shoot for its premiere issue, Platon maintained a long-term relationship with the magazine and Kennedy, and this significant and incomparable introduction to American culture and politics included one of Platons favorite assignments: a cross-country trip in order to document the 20 most fascinating men in America.

Later, as reported in Photo District News, his career coup was snagging a photo shoot with then-President Bill Clinton for the cover of Esquire. Dubbed the Crotch Shot," because of the low camera angle and the central focus of the shot, the image caused a stir and put Platons name in the gossip columns." With the pressure of having to do the shoot in less than ten minutes, and knowing this was the last official presidential portrait (since Clinton was on the brink of exiting office), Platon said he got the now-notorious shot by asking, Mr. President, can you show me the love?"

Since the early 1990s, Platon has continued to shoot fashion, portrait and documentary work for a range of international publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, GQ, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Premiere, Arena, The Face, i-D, Black Book, The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, The Observer and The Sunday Times Magazine. His advertising credits include campaigns for Motorola, Nike, Levis, IBM, Rolex, Ray-Ban, Tanqueray, Kenneth Cole, Issey Miyake, Moschino, Timex, Garrads, among others.

He is represented worldwide by the agent, David Maloney, at Art Department in New York, whose stellar roster of talent includes both rising stars, such as Norman Jean Roy, Robert Maxwell, Christian Witkin and Nick Waplington, as well as legends Steve McCurry, Bruce Davidson and Mark Ellen Mark.

Platons photographs have been exhibited at Hamiltons Gallery in London, Spiral Hall in Tokyo and the Carla Sozzani Gallery in Milan. His first solo show in New York recently opened at the Leica Gallery (May 13 -- June 19, 2004) and features his documentary work from around the world.

Platon is based in New York City where he lives with his wife.