Fearless Genius by Doug Menuez

Award-winning photographer Doug Menuez documented the leading innovators of California’s Silicon Valley during the digital revolution as they invented the technology that would change our world forever. Menuez's project, Fearless Genius, began in 1985 with Steve Jobs as Jobs was starting over after losing a boardroom battle and leaving Apple.

In an extraordinary act of trust, Jobs allowed Menuez special access to photograph him as he built a new company, NeXT, and a powerful new supercomputer that Jobs hoped would transform education. Once Silicon Valley heard that Jobs had granted Menuez complete access, everyone did. He spent time photographing more than seventy other leading companies and innovators, including Intel’s Gordon Moore and Andy Grove, Adobe’s John Warnock, and Sun Microsystems’ Bill Joy. Menuez continued working through the Internet boom of the 1990s.

In this talk, Menuez will share eyewitness stories of the unknown sacrifice, insanely hard work, and relentless optimism of a secretive, brilliant tribe during those early and transformative days of the digital revolution. There are significant lessons from this era that are relevant and inspiring for today’s innovators as we attempt to catch the next big wave of transformational technology development.

This event will coincide with the launch of our new exhibit Fearless Genius: The Digital Revolution in Silicon Valley 1985–2000 on display in the lobby from July 9 to September 7, 2014.

Bring a bag lunch and enjoy the discussion with Museum family and friends. Box lunches will be made available for purchase in the Museum café.