Heroes often come from the most unlikely of places. Photographer Platon, known for his unflinching close-up portraits of presidents, dictators and other powerful icons of our era, found his in the ...

Three inches from one of the most notorious dictators in history, the photographer Platon focused tightly on the black eyes glaring at him through his lens. “There was nothing in them,” he said.

Platon took to the podium in pink corduroys and a porkpie hat. The session was a Master Class in photography, and Platon’s instructional method was to relate, with the aid of a slide show ...