Platon - A Provocateur

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Platon a provocateur

Made by: Harshal Pokle.











Platon a provocateur

All photographs by:

Platon Antoniou



Content Foreword About platon Sexual violance in Congo US Immigration Bibliography


Foreword

T

his isn’t an encyclopedia or a typology. These photographs were selected because they have something to say about time, place and people. Looking at pictures can evoke thoughts and feeling about life. Good art does that, weather its photography, painting,music, dance, film or literature. It leads each of us to ponder in our own, personal terms, not just the subject at hand but the universal nature of human existence. The photographs in this book, show us the world as it really is, or in some cases, was. In all the pictures there is that sense of dialogue between the subject and the artist. With photos presented in a book, rather than on a wall in some museum or a gallery, the dialogue expands into an ongoing conversation between the readers, the artist and their subject. Photographs aren’t tape recordings. They don’t directly transmit the sounds of people. They don’t playback the voices and words of the people you see here. Yet, these photographs, speak to our hearts, our minds and our guts in the international visual language of pictures. They tell the subject’s experiences, lives and circumstances. The pictures speak of pain, poverty, violence, joy and sorrow. We see the dignity, despair, courage and perseverance of those depicted. In this great conversation, we learn how much all human beings have in common and how little it can take to set us against each other. 14


CAPTIONS FOR PAGES 2 THROUGH 10. Pages 2 & 3 :

Mara Puga, 42, and her children |San Deigo.|

In 2010, at the San Ysidro port of entry near San Diego, California, Anastasio Hernandez Rojas was beaten and shocked with a stun gun by Border Patrol agents and died three days later. He had been deported a few months earlier and was trying to reenter the United States and rejoin to his wife, Maria Puga, and their 7-year-old twins, Daniela and Daniel, pictured here near the wall where Rojas was beaten. Puga, who has successfully demanded an investigation into her husband’s death, says “I want my kids to grow up peacefully, not with rancor. That is why I continue to search for justice.”

Pages 4 & 5 :

A baby being operated on by physicians at Panzi Hospital

The chief operating doctor at center is Dr. Désiré Alumeti, a pediatric surgeon at Panzi Hospital. He was trained in forensic medicine in Senegal and works part-time in the Sexual Violence Clinic at Panzi Hospital on difficult forensic cases. He also lectures on forensic medicine and pediatric surgery at the Université Evangélique en Afrique (UEA). As an emerging leader and public health expert in Bukavu, Dr. Désiré is deeply committed to human rights and justice for victims of sexual violence.

Pages 5 & 6 :

Mike Wilson, 64 | Tucson, Ariz. |

Wilson, a volunteer with Humane Borders, leaves water in the desert for migrants and leads search missions when they are reported missing.

Pages 7 & 8 :

Dr. Patrick Bigabwa comforts a patient at Panzi Hospital.

Dr. Bigabwa has been helping patients at Panzi Hospital as a doctor for seven years. He cares for five children at home and finds working with child victims of violence especially challenging. “Of course it is profoundly affecting to have the responsibility to treat children who have been raped. It makes you wonder what sort of human can attack and destroy a child’s life.”

Page 9 :

Platon and Scott Dadich in Greece filming Abstract: The Art of Design.

Page 11 :

Platon taking a potrait of Stephen Colbert for TIME magzine.

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About Platon. Platon is a communicator and storyteller and is represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau. He has been invited to be a keynote speaker on leadership at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Chanel, Nike, Yale University, Oxford University, Wharton University, the National Portrait Gallery in London and International Center of Photography in NY. Platon is currently on the board for Arts and Culture at the World Economic Forum and serves as a steward for the Economic Growth and Social Inclusion Initiative.

Who are You? Platon.

Self-Potrait. 16




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“George is a personal hero of mine. He’s my mentor, and almost a father figure to me now. I’ve learned more from George than any other person in the business. He’s taught me about courage and about being in tune with the times we’re living in, and that what we can all strive for is to be cultural provocateurs. George certainly did that when he created those famous covers of Esquire magazine in the 1960s, tackling all kinds of issues, from war to civil rights. And while his work is different from mine, th ere’s a link. We both like to poke the bear and put a spotlight on things that people might not be comfortable talking about.”

Platon & George Lois

Self-Potrait.

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You have to help people see themselves in the story.

Muhammed Ali

A Platon potrait.

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I shook his hand, recovered a bit, and said to him: “I’m a big Beatles fan. Are you?” I wanted to break down the formality of the situation, and suddenly he started speaking perfect English.

“I love the Beatles!” he said.

Vladimir Putin

A Platon potrait.

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“The camera is nothing more than a

tool.�

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Page 24:

Platon & Jeremy Renner

Platon taking a potrait.

Jeremy Renner

A Platon potrait. 25


“Snowden held the flag in his hands and delicately unfolded it. You could see the gears moving.” - Platon.

Edward Snowden

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Platon’s potrait for WIRED magzine.





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In March 2016, Platon and The People’s Portfolio traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to document the struggle to end sexual violence against women and girls. The project interviewed and captured through portraiture the dozens of doctors, activists, lawyers, police, students, and advocates who are leading the fight for justice and accountability, and also tackled the long-standing source of conflict: natural resource wealth that fuels violence in the country. Partners for this project included Physicians for Human Rights and Dr. Denis Mukwege, 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and the institutions he founded, Panzi Hospital and Foundations. TIME published the portfolio in February 2017. This portfolio is the basis for the debut film by Platon, ‘My Body Is Not A Weapon’. The film will be released in 2019

Esther Faraja, 17, and son Josue Ishara, 1

When Esther was 16 years old, she was fetching water in a rural area near her home. Three militia members from the rebel FDLR abducted her in the forest and held her tied up for three days, raping her each morning. On the fourth day, Esther was able to escape and find her way back home where she soon discovered she was pregnant. Esther is pictured with her son, Josue, who is one year old.


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Page 30 :

Imani Kasengezi, 15 and Sara Bisimwa, 15

Imani is a teenager who was raped and came to Panzi Hospital for maternal care. She is pictured at eight months pregnant. “A man raped and threatened to kill me. When I went home, I told my parents and they didn’t believe me. And now, because I didn’t have any choice, I came to Panzi. I feel like I am on my own.

Page 31 :

Hands of “Mama” Zawadi Nadintu, 62, and Vanessa, 4

Mama Zawadi is the sister of Dr. Mukwege. She helped found the hospital’s rehabilitation and community center, Maison Dorcas. Vanessa, the child pictured with her, is 4-years-old, and is the daughter of a patient. After years of hearing distressing stories of the rape and often torture of women, Mama Zawadi saw that repairing a victim’s physical health was only the first step towards rehabilitation: she recognized the need to restore their mental health and outlook, coupled with their chances to reintegrate as productive and confident members of society.

Page 32 :

Parents and children join morning prayers at Panzi Hospital’s central courtyard.



Page 34 :

Dr. Denis Mukwege

Dr. Mukwege is a world-renowned gynecological surgeon who is the founder and medical director of Panzi Hospital and Foundations. He has been the recipient of numerous awards worldwide for his advocacy against sexual violence as a weapon of war and for his outstanding services to survivors of rape, including the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2014.

Colonel David Bodeli Dombi, 45

Colonel Bodeli holds a wooden sign he made and keeps in his police station that reads, “End War Rape.” Colonel Bodeli is the chief of the Women and Children Protection Unit in South Kivu for the Congolese National Police.



This collaboration between The People’s Portfolio and Human Rights Watch highlights immigrants whose stories illustrate unjust immigration laws in the United States—and in particular, the destructive impact of deportations on families. The project puts a human face to provisions in the Immigration Reform Bill that recently passed in the United States senate, showing the very broad ways in which the immigration system is broken, and what changes are most desperately needed.

Robin Reineke, 31 | Tucson, Ariz. |

Reineke, director of the Colibrî Center for Human Rights, holds the personal effects of unidentified border crossers. 37


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Kathleen Velazquez, 18 | Phoenix |

Velazquez says her partner was arrested last year in Maricopa County, Ariz., for working with false documents. She says he spent more than 10 months in immigration detention and missed the birth of his son Aaron, pictured.

Roland Sylvain, 35 | New York City |

Sylvain, who says he left Haiti for the U.S. at age 7 and became a legal resident, now faces deportation for allegedly forging his cousin’s signature on traffic tickets in 2001. He poses with his wife Joeddy, 30, and their son Joland, who are both U.S. citizens.

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Evelyn Velazquez, 3 | Phoenix|

Velazquez’s mother says her partner was arrested last year in Maricopa County, Ariz., for working with false documents. She says he spent more than 10 months in immigration detention and missed the birth of his son.

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Hilarion Warren Joseph, 46 | New York City |

Joseph is a green card holder and decorated veteran of the Gulf War whom U.S. immigration officials detained for three years while they unsuccessfully sought to deport him after his conviction for transporting weapons. His son Japeri wears his uniform. and missed the birth of his son.

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Bibliography. https://www.thepeoplesportfolio.org/ http://www.platonphoto.com/ http://time.com/tag/platon/ https://www.hasselblad.com/ambassadors/platon/ https://images.google.com/ https://www.wired.com/2014/08/scott-dadich-snowden/ https://www.ba-reps.com/photographers/platon/congo/588bbe81-eb78-4196-92b650cc0a9620a7 http://time.com/platon-congo-denis-mukwege/ https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/nov/13/photography-art https://www.semipermanent.com/articles/platon https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-promise-carries-on https://www.ai-ap.com/publications/article/9403/international-motion-art-awardsplatons-portrait.html https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/photographer-platon-gets-close-capturepersons-truth https://in.pinterest.com/pin/316377942568651112/

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a provocateur Copyright Š 2018 by Harshal Pokle All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the rief quatation in the book review. Printed in India First Printing,2018 ISN 978-0-9929684-4-1 Wicka Publishing Ram Maruti Road Chembur, Mumbai- 400074



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