Artist Spotlight: Platon and the Optimism of the Human Condition

The only gift I really have is that I can see straight into your heart ... That allows me to tune into a frequency. That's how I describe it now. It's a frequency that everyone has, and it requires a deep concentration to get into that frequency. But if you can do it, then you open up a whole world of that person's humanity.

When you're on your deathbed, all that matters is the truth. And I find that really powerful. And think about it: When all is said and done, and your life is over, and you're about to say good night, what are you really going to be thinking about at that time? You're going to be thinking about the most profound, sincere, truthful things in your life for better or worse.

[Edward Snowden] said, 'Loneliness can be a terrifying thing, especially when you've been robbed of all the people that you love. But loneliness can also be an empowering thing, because when you're lonely, there is nothing but a wall of silence. 'Listen to the silence' he said, 'and you just might hear the voices of history talking to you.'

The danger we face with this NFT fascination is that we might be measuring the success and development of NFTs in the wrong way. I think that, if you're just going to look at how much money did it make, I think you're missing the point. For me, what's really interesting about NFTs is that it's another great channel to stimulate respectful debate and to tell some stories that will bring people back together to a shared experience and a central space.

Because to be a great leader, you have to think of yourself not as a person of fame, authority, success, financial strength; you have to think of yourself as a servant. If you want to know what is to be powerful, do something that helps someone else, and the feeling you get is just extraordinary.

There's a danger here and something I do want to talk about with NFTs ... It's so based on metrics and also money; let's be honest ... If you're an artist, there's a great danger in measuring the value of something by metrics. Art is very rarely about metrics in any way. Culture is very rarely about metrics.

Great art means that the artist is speaking from their heart. And that's why it means something to you—because it quietly resonates with your own vulnerabilities and your own feelings and your own hopes and fears. That's what great art is.

I fundamentally believe everyone is equal or born equal and should be treated with the same respect.

The only way to drive positive action is to inspire people to want to do it themselves. And the only way to do that is to tell beautiful, powerful stories that people feel they have a stake in.

And [Muhammad Ali] said, 'If you can get people to see themselves in the story 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.'

I'm all for cutting out the middleman. I love that. Power to the people. Artists in the music industry as well as in the visual arts have been shafted since the beginning of history.

I was drawn to this idea of power and leadership. I've always been fascinated by it, and I've always had a healthy disregard for power.

What's really bizarre is a huge percentage of the world leaders I photograph are either in jail for corruption or under investigation for corruption.

You should never be dazzled by power, fame, glory, and the idea of success ... So many people I've worked with have fallen from grace.

I don't measure success of something by how much it sold or how famous it was; I measure something of how important it is, and does it start a spark that respectful debate will flourish, hopefully, because of this spark.

[Naomi Wadler] said, 'Talk with people; don't talk at them. Listen to them; don't just hear them.'