Synopses & Reviews
andlt;B andgt;An eye-opening chronicle of the Silicon Valley technology boom, capturing key moments in the careers of Steve Jobs and more than seventy other leading innovators as they created todayand#8217;s digital world andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;In the spring of 1985, a technological revolution was under way in Silicon Valley, and documentary photographer Doug Menuez was there in search of a storyand#8212;something big. At the same time, Steve Jobs was being forced out of his beloved Apple and starting over with a new company, NeXT Computer. His goal was to build a supercomputer with the power to transform education. Menuez had found his story: he proposed to photograph Jobs and his extraordinary team as they built this new computer, from conception to product launch. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;In an amazing act of trust, Jobs granted Menuez unlimited access to the company, and, for the next three years, Menuez was able to get on film the spirit and substance of innovation through the day-to-day actions of the worldand#8217;s top technology guru. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;From there, the project expanded to include the most trailblazing companies in Silicon Valley, all of which granted Menuez the same complete access that Jobs had. Menuez photographed behind the scenes with John Warnock at Adobe, John Sculley at Apple, Bill Gates at Microsoft, John Doerr at Kleiner Perkins, Bill Joy at Sun Microsystems, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove at Intel, Marc Andreessen at Netscape, and more than seventy other leading companies and innovators. It would be fifteen years before Menuez stopped taking pictures, just as the dotcom bubble burst. An extraordinary era was coming to its close. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;With his singular behind-the-scenes access to these notoriously insular companies, Menuez was present for moments of heartbreaking failure and unexpected success, moments that made history, and moments that revealed the everyday lives of the individuals who made it happen. This period of rapid, radical change would affect almost every aspect of our culture and our lives in ways both large and small and would also create more jobs and wealth than any other time in human history. And Doug Menuez was there, a witness to a revolution. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;In more than a hundred photographs and accompanying commentary, andlt;I andgt;Fearless Geniusandlt;/Iandgt; captures the human face of innovation and shows what it takes to transform powerful ideas into reality.
Review
and#8220;Interestingand#8230; Insightfuland#8230;Will feel nostalgic for those who were a part of the action; for outsiders, it will both confirm and explode perceptions of what really took place during a strange and exciting time.and#8221;
Review
"Instructive... Interesting... A vital piece of photographic history."
Synopsis
An award-winning documentary photographer delivers a stunning visual history of the Silicon Valley technology boom, in which he was witness to key moments in the careers of Steve Jobs and more than seventy other leading innovators as they created todayand#8217;s digital world.andlt;brandgt;andlt;brandgt;In the spring of 1985, a technological revolution was underway in Silicon Valley, and documentary photographer Doug Menuez was there in search of a storyand#8212;something big. At the same time, Steve Jobs was being forced out of his beloved Apple and starting over with a new company, NeXT Computer. His goal was to build a supercomputer with the power to transform education. Menuez had found his story.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Menuez hoped to photograph Jobs as he built this new computer from conception to product launch, thereby capturing the spirit and substance of innovation through the worldand#8217;s top technology guru. In an amazing act of trust, Jobs granted Menuez unprecedented access to him and his team, and what Menuez thought would last only three years soon stretched into fifteen. Once Silicon Valley heard Jobs had granted him complete access, they all did. Over the years, Menuez photographed behind the scenes with John Warnock at Adobe, John Sculley at Apple, Bill Gates at Microsoft, John Doerr at Kleiner Perkins, Bill Joy at Sun Microsystems, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove at Intel, Mark Andreessen at Netscape, and more than seventy other leading companies and innovators.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;By 2000, an era was ending, the Valley had crashed, and Steve Jobs was rising up, riding a blazing rocket back to glory. The growth of transformational technology during this singular era had led to the creation of more jobs and wealth than any time in human history. And Menuez was there, witness to a global revolution.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;In andlt;Iandgt;Fearless Geniusandlt;/Iandgt;, Menuez brings his experiences to print, showing, in 100 stunning photographs of scenes only he had access to, the human face of innovation and what it takes to transform the power of ideas into reality.
About the Author
Doug Menuez is an award-winning documentary photographer whose varied career over thirty years began in 1981 at andlt;i andgt;The Washington Postandlt;/iandgt;, then as a freelancer for andlt;iandgt;Timeandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;iandgt;Newsweekandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;iandgt;Lifeandlt;/iandgt;,andlt;iandgt; Fortuneandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;iandgt;The New York Times Magazineandlt;/iandgt;, and many more publications. His many awards include honors from Communication Arts, the Kelly Awards, AOP London, and Photo District News, among others. He has been exhibited in solo and group shows in the US and Europe. Stanford University Library acquired his extensive archive of more than 1 million photographs and created the Douglas Menuez Photography Collection at Stanford University Library. He is based in New York City.