Platon to Address Festival of Politics 2008

16 June 2008

Internationally renowned photographer Platon will be part of this year’s Festival of Politics line-up at the Scottish Parliament in August.

Platon’s appearance at the Parliament coincides with the showing of his winning entry at the World Press Photo (WPP) exhibition which will return to Holyrood for the third year running.

The winning entry in the Portrait category 2008 is an image of Vladimir Putin, then President of the Russian Federation, for Time Magazine. It will be on show in Holyrood from Friday 8 to Saturday 30 August as part of the exhibition which travels to 100 cities in 50 different countries – but once again Holyrood is the only Parliament in the world to display the winning photos.

Speaking about the exhibition and his participation in the Festival of Politics Platon said:

“I am honoured and humbled to have won this prestigious award for my Putin portrait. To be placed in a context of such integrity is an absolute thrill.

“Personally, I have always been fascinated by politics and the human condition. Through my work I strip away the barriers of power and show what it’s really like to meet these fascinating characters. There is always a story to tell after every one of my brief encounters, and that’s what I intend to share in Edinburgh.”

Platon, a UK born photographer now based in New York, will be a guest speaker at the Festival of Politics on Saturday 23 August. He will discuss some of the highlights of his career which have seen him photograph diverse subjects including Presidential candidate Barack Obama, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, actor Heath Ledger and football star David Beckham.

He will also examine the political and social importance of his work and explain how he captures images that have been recognised as some of the best in the field of portrait photography.

This is the third year that the Scottish Parliament has hosted the World Press Photo (WPP) exhibition with stunning images documenting people, places and events from across the world. Visitors to the Scottish Parliament will be able to see some of the best news photography in the world at the hugely popular show which has attracted more than 70,000 visitors in the previous two years it’s featured at Holyrood.

The exhibition will form part of this year’s Festival of Politics which runs from Wednesday 20 to Saturday 23 August inclusive. The full Festival programme will be launched on Friday 27 June.

BACKGROUND

The Scottish Parliament is hosting the World Press Photo (WPP) exhibition for the third year. From Friday 8 August until Saturday 30 August 2008 (except Sundays) the Parliament will display the 51st annual World Press Photo exhibition, drawn from this year’s winning entries. The winning photographs were selected from 80,536 images submitted by 5,019 photographers from 125 countries.

The exhibition will travel to 100 cities in 50 different countries but the Parliament is once again one of only two locations in the United Kingdom and the only Parliament in the world to display the winning photos.

World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT.