Steve Jobs Was Challenging to Photograph, Say Photogs
In chatting with photographers who worked with imperfect fashion model and non-deity Steve Jobs, Photo District News learned that the Apple innovator "had a reputation among photographers for being a difficult subject—and not just run-of-the mill difficult, but the archetype of difficult."
He liked to control shoots, bluntly criticized photographers' work and ideas, and sometimes even yelled, PDN reports. One photographer recalls one-time presidential candidate Ross Perot telling Jobs to "grow up!!!" during a shoot. But for all his salty ways, Jobs also seemed to impress the photographers for one reason or another: his charisma, intelligence, and sharpness were undeniable.
Doug Menuez, who captured the development of the NeXT computer and—according to PDN—"spent more time photographing Jobs than just about any other photographer," says working with Jobs made him into a man:
"In all those years, Steve only screamed at me at the top of his lungs once," Menuez recalls. It was in 1988, when Fortune hired Menuez to shoot a portrait of Jobs for the cover of the magazine. Menuez wanted to photograph him in the NeXT offices, on a staircase that Jobs had commissioned architect I.M Pei to design. Jobs arrived for the shoot, looked at what Menuez had in mind, "then [he] leaned in and says, ‘This is the stupidest fucking idea that I've ever seen.' Right in my face, like 5 or 6 inches away," Menuez says. "I felt like I was 10 years old. He went off on a tirade. He said, ‘You just want to sell magazines. ‘And I said, ‘And you want to sell computers.' And at that he said, ‘OK,' and sat down.
Menuez concludes, "I've been in war zones, but I like to say that I became a man learning how to stand my ground with Steve."
Sounds like fun.
