Doug Menuez

March 8th- April 3rd, 2018

 Selected Works Thumbnails Back

Steve Jobs Expanding Ten-year Technology Development Cycles, 1986

 

Steve giving a history lesson about how technology evolves in ten-year wave cycles to his new NeXT team at an off-site meeting. Every few months, Steve and the fledging company's employees would travel to a retreat in the country with their families to grapple with myriad technical issues. There he would regularly hold talks to explain his vision for the company and to encourage his brilliant cofounders and employees to participate fully in its realization. Steve planned to ride the next wave by putting the power of a refrigerator-size mainframe computer into a one-foot-cube at a price affordable to universities, thus "transforming education." When I asked him what he meant by this, he said he wanted "some kid at Stanford to be able to cure cancer in his dorm room." Because he absolutely believed this was possible, his whole team did. Behind this noble goal Steve was also on a quest for redemption and revenge after being forced out at Apple in a humiliating boardroom coup after alienating key board and his handpicked CEO, John Sculley. Most industry pundits believed NeXT would be a huge and rapid success, as did Steve. Instead, it was the start of a decade of difficult, often bitter struggle. 

Steve Jobs Returning From a Visit to the New Factory, Fremont, California, 1987.

 

Although Steve could be extremely rude, critical and occasionally even vindictive, he also was incredibly joyful, with an infectious grin and energy that was irresistible. In the early days at NeXT, he would often come bounding in, hungry to get to work. Still, there were not too many unrestrained moments of hilarity such as this one when Steve was riding back from a visit to the newly chosen factory site with the company employees in an old, rented yellow school bus.

 

 

Steve Jobs Is Thinking, Santa Cruz, 1987

 

Steve was a technologist, an editor, a cool hunter, and a saavy businessman, but he also had an artists intuitive mind, dreaming up new ways to combine existing technologies to create something completely new. Mostly, he was staking out virgin ground at the intersection of the humaities and science. Another of the many attributes that set him apart was his refusal to take no for an answer. Steve, surrounded himself with the most brilliant scientists, marketers, and managers on the planet, sometimes interviewing a hundred people for every one he hired. Then he pushed them, sometimes kicking and screaming, to do what they thought they knew was impossible- until they somehow rose above their own considerable talents to deliver the miracles Steve demanded. Despite the unhappy fate of the NeXT hardware, he never gave up on his ideas. The innovations he engendered during the NeXT years would be the key to his triumphant return to Apple.

Evolution of the Species.  Palo Alto, California, 1988.

 

This cheeky tableau of a robot dominating a primate seen decorating a cubicle at NeXT is symbolic of today's big debates in Silicon Valley about nothing less than the future of humanity. As the pace of technological innovation is expected to increase exponentially, experts believe that the next stage of our evolution will see humans actually merging with machines. Today exciting advances have already been made in artificial intelligence, nanotech, and genomics that when put together might lead to this outcome. But a minority of concerned scientists are now speaking out in books and at conferences, expressing their fears that these technologies might threaten our future as a species. Virtual-reality pioneer Jaron Lanier worries that in the future we'll be able to upload our brains into a "hive mind." We'll leave our bodies behind to achieve immortality, but will end up working forever as slaves tasked with writing free Wikipedia entries all day. 

Exhortations, Incantations, Promises and Threats, Redwood City, California,1988.

 

Steve gives a rousing pep talk to inspire his weary employees while also indulging in a short rant about revenge on Apple and John Sculley. The company was preparing to demonstrate the NeXT prototype at gala demonstration in San Francisco and Washington, DC, although it would be almost another year before finished workstations would be shipped.

 

 

Press Release

A MONUMENTAL PHOTO EXHIBIT SHOWCASING THOSE WHO ALTERED THE COURSE OF HUMANITY’S EVOLUTION FOREVER 

 

Opening Reception: March 8th, 2018 Hours: 6-9:00 p.m.

RSVP: fearlessgenius@HGContemporary.com

527 West 23rd Street NY, NY 10011

 

Notable influencers featured in Fearless Genius include: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, David Hockey, Bill Clinton, John Sculley, Ross Perot, Susan Kare, Russel Brown, Bill Joy

 

Chelsea, NYC – HG Contemporary presents: Fearless Genius, a monumental photo exhibit showcasing a pivotal time in American & technological history. With exclusive access to Steve Jobs, during a time described as the ‘golden era’ of Silicon Valley, Doug’s collection of masterfully crafted images documented a niche of American entrepreneurs who were on a mission to change the world. From the creators of the smartphone to the visionaries behind making the internet accessible to everyone, this era altered the course of humanity’s evolution. 

 

Doug’s anthropological study fostered a profound understanding into the daunting, magical, and excessive human beings who were critical in altering our perceptions of reality through the development of their tech dreams. Doug’s eye highlights the fortitude of what is achievable when a group of individuals share a collective mission. The result is an unforgettable exhibition of photos that will be studied by generations to follow.

 

About Doug Menuez

 

Doug Menuez is a craftsman of human observance. His photographs evoke a wide spectrum of emotions with more than 30 years of creating art through his documentation of cultures worldwide. 

 

Doug’s commissions range from Hollywood faces such as Charlize Theron and Robert Redford to Mother Teresa and Presidents Clinton and Bush Sr. Mr. Menuez’s work has been praised by industry and peers alike with honorable mentions and awards via The Cannes Festival, The Epson Creativity Award and the international photography awards. His commercial clients include Apple, IBM, Goldman Sachs, Chevron, Emirates Airlines & Forbes…

 

About Fearless Genius: The Exhibition

 

The exhibition of Fearless Genius opened in Moscow at the Photobiennale in March 2012 and has been continuously traveling worldwide with exhibits in China, Spain, France, the UK, and most recently at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, which set a record for attendance. 

 

About HG Contemporary 

 

Hoerle-Guggenheim Contemporary is a breakthrough gallery founded by Philippe Hoerle-Guggenheim in 2014. The gallery has built a reputation for unearthing distinct artists and producing shows that embrace groundbreaking aesthetics and concepts. HG Contemporary has produced exhibitions featuring: RETNA, Tim Bengel, Stuart McAlpine Miller, Jason Dussault, Massimo Agostinelli, Olga Tobreluts among many others.

 

HG Contemporary  I   527 West 23rd Street NY, NY 10011   I   212.366.4490