Being a shy, gay man from Montana, Bill Bowers says he knew about silence from early on. When he heard there was an art form devoted to being silent, he knew he had found his calling. Bowers offers his Brief but Spectacular take on being a mime and making room for quiet.

Comic books were a lifesaver for illustrator Catia Chien. As an child immigrant to the U.S., growing up inside a dysfunctional family, she struggled to find her voice, but instead connected expression through art. Chien gives her Brief but Spectacular take on creating from the inside out.

“I don’t think we’re free in America,” says attorney Bryan Stevenson, who sees an unwillingness to talk about the terrors of slavery and other racial-based violence as a continuing burden. But he also sees strength -- in the descendants of those who endured slavery. Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, offers his Brief but Spectacular take on race and justice in America.

Photographer Platon has captured portraits of the most famous and powerful people on the planet: Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and many others. How does he break down the personal barriers his subjects put up? Platon gives his Brief but Spectacular take.