Estimate: € 8.000–9.000

Inkjet print

88 x 64 cm ( 34 x 25 in)

Signed and numbered by the photographer in ink in the margin, edition no. 1/10, photographer's blindstamp in the margin

LITERATURE Power Platon, Portraits of World Leaders, Munich 2011, cover.

In 2007 Platon photographed Russian Premier Vladimir Putin for Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year-Cover. This image was awarded 1st prize at the prestigious World Press Photo Contest. Platon was allowed to visit Putin, who usually does not agree to unofficial portraits, at his private dacha outside Moscow. »When I arrived, there were snipers everywhere and three or four feet of snow. It was like a scene from a cold war movie. They made me go through all my equipment in the snow, before ushering me into the building, and made me wait in a room for eight and a half hours.« To break the ice Platon asked Putin during the shooting whether he had a favourite song by the Beatles, to which Putin replied: »Yesterday«. This was the point at which the prime minister allowed Platon to take the close-up of his face that became an icon of portrait photography.

Start price: €4.000