Photographer Tom Zimberoff has decided to unearth a series of original photos he captured for a magazine assignment in 1989 that featured Steve Jobs posing in the lobby of his Next headquarters in Palo Alto.
The unreleased collection that Zimberoff cleverly calls “Nose Jobs”, includes Steve Jobs wearing a classic Groucho Marx nose and glasses — a gag that the photographer liked to shoot at the end of his sessions as a way to promote his work using post cards.
Fast forward to present day and those rare iconic images that also include the likes of George Lucas, Ronald Reagan and actor Paul Newman, resonate as amazing time pieces with some that have a wildly unique signature.
Zimberoff describes his own encounter with Apple's Co-founder after he spent a few hours preparing the Next lobby for shooting, which included a Rosetta Stone replica pulled off the wall from Jobs’s personal office space.
“He arrived accompanied by an entourage that included musician Stephen Stills (of Crosby Stills Nash & Young), whom I already knew from an album cover shoot we did in 1977,” said Zimberoff.
“Jobs brushed right past me, took a perfunctory look at my set and said, right In front of everyone, 'Who’s stupid f_cking idea was this?' I said it was my stupid f_cking idea, and if he didn’t like it he could go f_ck himself because I went to a lot of trouble just to make him look good — for me to look good for my client, too.”
“I don’t remember the details, but while some huffing and puffing went on among Jobs’s acolytes, I went over to say hello to Stephen Stills,” Zimberoff added.
“I was prepared to pack up and leave without a picture. But Jobs came over, all smiles, and apologized.”
Zimberoff is releasing museum quality prints of both Steve Jobs and George Lucas available on Kickstarter (with or without the nose) starting at $100 for (8x10) images which includes a poster version thrown in — plus all prints are signed and numbered.
Backers jumping in for $500 will get a (16x20) print — while one $5,000 backer will walk away with the actual Hasselblad Camera used to capture Jobs and many other luminaries of that era.
A short video featuring portions of Tom Zimberoff's photos gives an impressive glimpse into this photographer's significant body of work. With hundreds of negatives still waiting for review, mister Zimberhoff could not immediately recall exactly which subjects he captured wearing the nose and glasses some 25 years ago.
But what he did recall during our brief conversation was one icon who absolutely refused to wear the Groucho get-up — it was Director Francis Ford Coppola. Ironically his brother August Coppola (father of Actor Nicolas Cage) also refused Zimberoff's humorous request during a completely separate photo session.
Only a limited number of 25 (16x20) museum quality prints featuring Steve Jobs and George Lucas are being offered on Kickstarter — so you might want to 'nose in' on that opportunity before they're all gone.
photo credit: Tom Zimberoff
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