futurejournalismproject:

The Craziest Guy in the Room:

Platon, who has photographed his share of daunting subjects that include Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Gaddafi was different. “He was vacant. There was no emotion, there was no spirit. It was void of something. When you come face to face with that it’s overwhelming, and that’s what I was trying to get in the picture.”

After the shoot, Platon said, “He put his hand on his heart to say thank you, and I did the same. And then, elegantly, he walked away.”

Platon then caught a glimpse of Gaddafi’s speech. “It was written in red crayon, in giant letters, like a six-year-old kid would write it. And it was written on about twenty pieces of tatty paper torn out of a book, in Arabic. It felt like notes of a madman.”

h/t Joseph Chi Lin

life:

In 1969, 27-year-old Capt. Muammar Gaddafi overthrew the king of Libya in a bloodless coup, promoted himself to Colonel, and declared the country a socialist state. Ever since, he’s remained one of the world’s most controversial leaders, and a man of profound contradictions. He describes Libya as a popular democracy, but his word is law. He has sponsored terrorists and violent revolutionaries, but has frequently acknowledged his actions while avidly courting Western approval.

see more — Gaddafi: The Last Supervillain?