The story behind Steve Jobs’ best and most famous portrait
Steve Jobs y el impulso de los genios.
“I just wanted to let you know that Steve Jobs hates photographers,” one Apple representative told Albert Watson, the photographer who did a portrait of Steve Jobs . It was a commission from a magazine that wanted to photograph the most powerful people in the United States in 2006, among them the CEO and co-founder of Apple. Thanks to an interview published a few days ago we know the story behind this photograph.
One hour to portray an impatient Steve Jobs
In the video above you can see the scene narrated in first person by photographer Albert Watson. “You have one hour,” they told him after the manager’s announcement. Watson took a chance by telling Jobs himself that they had one hour to do the portrait, but that he thought he would be able to do it in 30 minutes .
Jobs sighed with relief, saying he had a million things to do that day. He looked at him as if he had given him a “Christmas present.” Watson decided to prepare the photo as if it were for a passport. Facing him against a white background.
It’s a portrait that holds enormous strength in Jobs’ eyes
Watson told him to lean forward, toward the camera. And he asked him to imagine sitting at a table with four or five other people in front of him. People who did not agree with him , but he knew perfectly well that he was right. Jobs replied:
In the context of this situation, it looks like Steve Jobs is smiling. But it’s actually a smile that the photographer says “don’t question what I’m doing.” They finished the job even earlier than promised, in 20 minutes.
A call from California
Jobs left the room after telling Watson that it was the best portrait ever made of him. He asked to keep a Polaroid picture of the moment. Years later, Albert Watson received a call from California asking him if he still had that photograph, which he ended up sending.
That’s how the Apple website remained for a month after Jobs’ death. This portrait was published on Apple’s website after Jobs’ death in October 2011
That same afternoon, while he was at Lincoln Center, one of the most important cultural centers in New York, he received a message with a link to Apple’s website. Steve Jobs had passed away that day , October 5, 2011. The company he helped found had placed that same portrait on the Apple Store’s online website to pay tribute to Jobs.
An iconic portrait of one of the most influential people of our time. The image that many have in mind when they remember Steve Jobs . No doubt, knowing this story will bring back many memories to the followers of the bitten apple.
At Apple
