The Original iPhone

In my book, Steve’s best keynote was the one he gave at Macworld 2007 to introduce the iPhone. I remember clearly thinking to myself as I sat in the audience that it would probably be his best ever. Then he prank called Starbucks asking for 4000 lattes to go and there was no more question. And the iPhone, man, it was like something right out of the future—because it was. I still think it’s pretty amazing every time I use it.

After the keynote, there was a prototype phone in a display case in the exhibit hall. That’s as close as you could get to the magic. I watched person after person go up to that case and make a photograph of the phone. I did the same, to be honest. After just a minute or so, however, what really struck me about the scene around the display case wasn’t the phone. It was the people bathed in light. I spent a minute or two more making a few photos, and then hurried off to have dinner with friends.

My photos from that day—especially the first one above—were used without permission and with attribution in hundreds of places. In fact, quite a few gadget blogs claimed it as their own. Meh.

I haven’t looked at these photos in quite some time. When I pulled them up two nights ago, I immediately pushed them to black and white. Something about the scene just speaks to me more loudly in black and white now. Maybe it’s the treatment of history. Maybe it’s a reflection of how I feel now. In any case, I think it puts more emphasis on the light in the scene and the expressions.

Update: I offered prints of the first black and white image above for a limited time. The edition closed on Friday, October 14th 2011.