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Stories of photographing monumental people -- from Michelle Obama to Stephen Hawking | Platon
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- [00:07]
Elise Hu
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Photography has a particular gift to strip away assumptions and leave viewers with a window into a subject's character, filling our eyes and our minds with wonder and curiosity. In this Moving talk from 2022, portrait photographer Platon shares the extraordinary stories behind what like to photograph some of the world's most prominent figures, from Michelle Obama to Pussy Riot to Vladimir Putin and Muhammad Ali. He tells us how photographs have the ability to capture the disarming power of.
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Sponsor Voice
Empathy and human connection, asking all of.
- [00:48]
Elise Hu
Us to remember we're in this together.
- [00:54]
Sponsor Voice
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- [01:06]
Elise Hu
Your busy work for you so you.
- [01:08]
Sponsor Voice
Can fast forward through editing images, designing presentations, generating code, debugging code, running lots of apps without lag, creating live translations and captions, summarizing meeting notes, extending battery life, enhancing security, finding that file you were looking for, managing your schedule, meeting your deadlines, responding to Jim's long emails, leaving all the time in the world for more you time and for the things you actually want to do. No offense, Jim. Get a new Dell AI PC starting at $699.99 at Dell.com AI PC how those ahead? Stay ahead. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Each Apple product, like the iPhone 16, is thoughtfully designed by skilled designers. The Titanium Apple Card is no different. It's laser etched, has no numbers, and it earns you daily cash on everything you buy, including 3% back on everything at Apple. Apply for Apple Card on your iPhone in minutes, subject to credit approval. Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more@applecard.com this episode is sponsored by McDonald's. Okay, confession time. I love a good comeback story. Especially when it's delicious and totally unexpected. Back in 2006, McDonald's released the snack Wrap and it quickly became the go to bite portable, crunchy, juicy perfection. Then it vanished. Gone. Poof. But the fans like me, oh, they never gave up. I'm talking nine years of petitions, Facebook groups, memes, international snack wrap, scouting missions. People built entire identities around this thing. It was intense in the best way. And now it's back. Yes, really. Thanks to relentless sauce loving dedication, McDonald's brought back the Snack Wrap. And think crispy, juicy white meat shredded Lettuce, melty cheese, all hugged in a soft tortilla and drizzled with ranch or your pick of sauces. It was never supposed to return, but the fans made it happen. Because sometimes passion wins. And sometimes it tastes like a snack wrap. Try the snack wrap that broke the Internet at a McDonald's near you.
- [03:19]
Platon
So here we are together, but we're in a technological trance. Here we are together, but we're divided by tribalism. Here we are together, but we're distracted by mass myths. We've been separated by walls, windows, computer screens, borders, but we're united in our hearts. Or we've argued and quarreled in the past, but now we know we've got a common bond, humanity. So why are we all here? Maybe we're all looking for a key. A key to unlock this political, economic, social, cultural paralysis. Maybe the answer is in a little empathy. Empathy is not just walking in someone's shoes or feeling someone's pain. Empathy is the secret ingredient for finding a human connection. So I want you to open up your hearts and open up your minds. Because in times of confusion, we must not lose our capacity to dare to be kind to each other. Some years ago, I had the great privilege to be invited to the White House to do this. This is Michelle Obama's first portrait as First Lady. Now, this has got nothing to do with politics. This is a cultural moment in American history. On this day, I was nervous, and when I'm nervous, I get socially clumsy. Know what I mean? So I picked up my camera, focused on her eyelash, and in my clumsiness, I shouted out, right, my love, I want your soul. Give it to me. Silence in the room. I'm sure the hairdresser almost dropped the hairspray in shock. And as I took this picture, this devastating look came over her face. The eyebrow raises as if to say, how dare you? But I quite like it at the same time. So then I realized what I just said. And I said, my goodness me, I'm an Englishman. And in England, we invented being polite. I think Canadians and Americans do it better now. But we invented it. And here I am in the White House calling you my love and demanding your soul. Please forgive my atrocities. She stands up, gives me a hug, and whispers in my ear, platon. When all is said and done, I'm just Michelle. This is Pussy Riot. You probably know them as the hardcore feminist punk rock group who spoke truth to power against Putin's excessive nationalism, and consequently, they were sent to a Siberian prison for two years. But what Happens if we remove those colorful, aggressive masks. You see something different. This is Nadia and Masha photographed after they were released from. From prison. You can see the vulnerability on their faces. You can see that they've paid a heavy price for their support of LGBTQ rights and women's rights in Russia. Now, during their trial in the courtroom before jail, they were kept in a big cage as if they're wild animals. Nadia, the co founder of Pussy Riot, she was constantly scribbling handwritten notes on a scrappy piece of paper. Eventually, the judge said to her, I want you to stand up and make your closing statement before I sentence you. I'm sure Nadia must have known she's about to go to jail. Nevertheless, she stood up nervously, clutching her piece of paper, took a deep breath, and read out from her notes. And what she said to the judge and to the world, I believe will go down as one of our generation's greatest speeches. She said, I wouldn't give people labels. There are no winners or losers here, injured parties or accused. We just need to make contact to establish a dialogue and a joint search for truth, to seek wisdom together, to be philosophers together, rather than stigmatizing and labeling people. That is one of the worst things people could do. I believe Nadia thinks one of the worst things we could do is to judge each other. Maybe we need to be less judgmental and more curious. When you look at one of my pictures, you might find yourself making judgments about that person. So what happens if I strip away your capacity to make those judgments? I take away 95% of the picture and I leave you with just 5% that you can't recognize. But maybe it's the most important part, the window to someone's character. The eye. Whose eye is this? Always watching us? Is it someone you love? Is it someone you hate? It belongs to this man, Putin. At this moment, I would like to pay tribute to all the courageous, brave, resilient heroes who fight against oppression, who fight for human rights, dignity, freedom and justice around the world. Let's give them a round of applause. Come on. So I was driven through the streets of Moscow, past the gates of the Kremlin, and we continued out of the streets of Moscow into a dark, bleak, Gothic forest. We arrived at one of the most sinister buildings I've ever seen in my life. His private residence, his private dasha. And it was surrounded by a two story high security wall with snipers all the way along the top. As I get out of the limo, I'm escorted into the building at gunpoint. I'M led into a room. I waited, and he comes in with a giant entourage. And I said, Mr. President, before I capture this moment of history on film, I've got a question I'd like to ask you. I said, I was brought up by my mum and dad listening to the music of the Beatles. I want to know if you ever listened to the Beatles. His two translators whisper in his ear. There's some confusing looks amongst the entourage, and then his mood drops. And in Russian, he orders the two translators and all his political advisors out of the room. Immediately, the bodyguards stay. And then Putin turns to me, and in perfect English, he says, I love the Beatles. I said, I didn't know you spoke English. He said, I speak perfect English. I said, in that case, who's your favorite Beatle? He said, paul. I said, what's your favorite song? Is it Back in the ussr? Yeah. He didn't like that very much. And then he said, no, my favorite song is Yesterday. Think about it. And I thought about it, and I realized I'm being sent a subliminal message about the old days of power and authority of the Soviet Union through a Paul McCartney song. Now, that human connection I had with him allowed me in, and I ended up about an inch and a half away from his nose as I took this picture. I could feel his cold breath on my hand as I focused the lens. And that's how I got the truth. The truth is that this is the cold face of power and authority in Russia. And then he performs power for me in his chair. Now, the LGBTQ community and the human rights community in Russia, many of their members have adopted my pictures of Putin, and they use them as a banner to show everything that they believe is wrong with power in their country. I've been told recently that anyone in Russia who is caught circulating my pictures online in connection with human rights violations will be arrested, and they will go to jail immediately. Whose eye is this? Someone you love? Someone you hate? It belongs to a man who was prepared to go to jail for his beliefs. The late, great Muhammad Ali. I said to him, mohammed, you are the greatest. Teach me to be great. How can my generation be as great as your generation had to be during the civil rights era? He couldn't speak very well because of Parkinson's, so I had to get close. And he whispered, I have a confession to make. What is it? I said. He said, I wasn't as great as I said I was. Holy shit. I said, that's the biggest confession I ever heard in my life. The whole World knows you as Ali the greatest. And then he said, I think you misunderstand me. I'll tell you what was great. He said, it wasn't me. It was the people saw themselves in my struggle, in my story. And then he turned it to me, and now I've got the great honor to turn it to you. And he said, if you can get people to see themselves in the story that you put forward, then you have a chance of achieving greatness. But that greatness is never you personally. That's something much bigger called bridge building. A light bulb went off in my brain. So I took my last ever portrait of Muhammad Ali, not as a prize fighter or a champion, but as a compassionate bridge builder. Thinking of the underdog, whose eye is this? Someone you love? Someone you hate? A different type of underdog belongs to this man. So I said to him, donald, let's be human with each other just for a few minutes. We've all followed your career. I said, no one can doubt it's an extraordinary career path you've had, but there's always something about you. There's always an air of tension and controversy about things you say and do in public. And I'm sure that's intentional on your part, but it feels to me as if you're in the middle of an emotional storm. Personally, I couldn't live with that anxiety all the time. I want to know how you weather the storm. He calmly looks at me and he says, I am the storm. The eyes are always watching us. But how do we use our eyes? Do we look or do we see? When you look at this picture, you might find yourself thinking about the politics of war. But when you see the person in this picture, you get to know Jessica. Jessica holds a flag they draped over her husband's coffin, who had recently been killed fighting in Iraq for America. I took this picture in her home. Now she has his wedding ring around her neck on a chain. When you're killed in combat, the US Military sends your clothes and personal belongings back to the family in a big box. Jessica had recently received the box but had not yet had the courage to open it. There it lay, closed at the base of her bed in her bedroom. I said to her, jessica, maybe you should wear one of his Army T shirts as a tribute to him in the picture. She said, I would, but all his T shirts are in the box. Maybe now, she said, it's time for me to face that emotion. So we both walked into her bedroom. We both knelt at the base of her bed, and we undid a latch each of the box and lifted the lid. And she burst into tears. And I felt ashamed of myself. For the first time in my life, I had put a photograph above the well being of a person. As I apologized, she said, you don't understand why I'm crying. I'm crying, she said, because I just realized they washed his clothes and I wanted to smell him again. Did you feel that? Did you feel that? If you felt that, then something beautiful just happened. We all came into this room defined by our differences. Men, women, old, young, black, white, dare I say members of the left, dare I say members of the right. Different genders, different religious groups, cultures. But we all felt that together. What we felt is compassion. Compassion for someone you've never even met. That's the power of human connection. And that's why we will not go down as the generation of connectivity that disconnected itself. No, I think we're going to rise up. I think we're going to rekindle the spirit of optimism. It seems to me they underestimated the resilience of humanity. Whose eye is this? Someone you love? Someone you hate? It belongs to a man who was robbed of the power of human connection. Professor Stephen Hawking. Now, he was very ill when I took this picture. In fact, his whole body had essentially shut down. There was only one muscle he could still work, and that was underneath his eye. His team of scientists placed a sensor at the base of his glasses and that sensor picks up movement of that muscle. And with that muscle, he moves a cursor over each letter of the Alphabet on his laptop screen. He chooses a letter, builds a word, constructs a paragraph. And that's how he communicated those epic statements about space, time and humanity to us. At the end of the session, I said to him, professor, what an honour it is for me to photograph you. And I've seen how hard it is for you to even communicate. But I'm going to ask for a big favor. I said, I want one word of wisdom from you. One word from you. It's going to be worth a million words from anyone else. We all waited. His nurse was a little concerned. I had heard that that muscle was failing. And most of the things he typed around this time didn't mean anything. Suddenly we heard beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. He was typing. We all leaned in to the laptop screen to see where the cursor's going to go. And he went all the way to the letter W. Then he starts the next letter. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, all the way to the letter O. And then the final letter, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. All the way back to the letter W. Someone on the team said, wow, what does that stand for? That's nonsense. It's a mistake. And I said, hold on a minute. That's not a mistake. He just typed the word wow. He just gave me a word my kids would use about the beauty and majesty of life. And isn't it amazing how the man who faces so much adversity still still looks at the world through the eyes of wonder? His nurse said he's exhausted. Let's give his eyes a rest. Let's take off his sensor, take off his glasses and replace them with his dark sunglasses. And then I saw it. A vision of a badass rock star of hope. And I took this picture. This is my fitting tribute to a legend of our time. A man who believed that connection was equals compassion. So I'm not going to leave you with an answer. I'm going to leave you with a question. Are we to be bystanders, like moths dancing around somebody else's flame? Or are we to be upstanders? And we light darkness ourselves with our own torch of compassion? Because when there is light, we see each other not as strangers, not as opponents, but as creative partners. And then together, we rebuild this troubled world. Together, we reconnect. Together, we earn the respect of history and transform this chaos into a beautiful cosmos. Thank you for listening to me.
- [21:27]
Elise Hu
That was Platon at TED 2022. To see the many photographs referenced in this talk, visit ted.com if you're curious about Ted's curation, find out more@ted.com curationguidelines and that's it for today's show. Ted Talks Daily is part of the Ted Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar and Tonsika Sarmavon. It was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballaraizo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.
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- [23:20]
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