Headed down to the PhotoPlus conference in NYC for the day today. On a bit of a photo-high now from soaking up stories, photos and advice all day…
The highlight of the day? PLATON. This guy was great. Not that I’m biased or anything, what with him being a Brit ‘n all. Not only were his pictures unique, but his presentation and delivery were emotional. I was going to say ‘great’ or ‘awesome’, but that doesn’t really convey the whole spectrum. I was laughing my head off at some points, and then really moved at other points. I won’t go into too much detail on the stories here in case I spoil it for anyone planning on seeing him soon, but trust me, it’s entertaining and inspiring.
The two hours of presentation whizzed by – from his story about the Putin picture (the link actually goes to the Strobist site which has a brief article about the picture and a link to the World Press Photo interview) where he attempted to befriend the President with a question about the Beatles – to his Dustin Hoffman story, where they all land up calling Platon’s mum during the shoot.
To be honest, I had heard about him for a few famous photos, including the Putin photo, but otherwise had only come across him now and again. Most recently, I noticed in Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama, where Powell talks about one of the pictures taken by him. Platon talked about the photo in his presentation, along with the other ones from that series.
One of the things that struck me about the presentation was that it wasn’t about the equipment. In fact that was noticeable the whole day. Downstairs in the seminars, the photographers were talking about techniques and methods, regardless of equipment. Upstairs in the expo, the exact opposite with huge displays of telescope like lenses, and a free 50lb bag of brochures for every attendee! We were all either photographers, or interested in photography, and yet there was only really one direct question about equipment, and it kinda sounded out of place. Point was that we were all more interested in the methods, the thoughts, the process behind the photos, rather than what lens, what f stop and what lighting plan.
Later in the day, was Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, and Michael Grecco. The latter, you’ll find mentioned in my about page – I’ve just recently finished reading his book, and was very impressed! It’s one of those ones where you hate to finish it – full of inspirational photos and the stories behind them. Kinda like the ‘Moment It Clicks’ book by Joe McNally. Oh btw, if you’re reading this somewhere where you’d be worried, there’s some NSW (not safe for work!) stuff on both of those sites, but relatively safe – Timothy Greenfield-Sanders did a project documenting porn stars. Nuff said. Michael Grecco also did a project called ‘Naked Ambition’. It’s ‘R’ rated, but it’s not got ‘naked’ in the title for nothing! Both speakers were really great – Michael Grecco was a full 2 hour presentation so learned a lot from that one too.
Also kicked myself today that I just missed Scott Kelby. He did a brief write-up of his day here. Spoke to the guys at the PeachPit booth, and they said that that was it… no second appearance on Friday or Saturday. doh!
Going back tomorrow – Jay Maisel and Joe McNally are on the schedule!
