Portraits of The Verge

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The Verge Team

The first photo shoot with The Verge

On a very hot, sticky day in August 2011, I was invited to the offices of SB Nation and the newly formed Vox Media on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. I was there to photograph Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, and the entire team behind one of the most eagerly anticipated consumer technology websites to launch to date: The Verge.

The idea was to shoot images inspired by the early advertisements for IBM and science editorial publications of the 70s and 80s ′s. Think pictures of Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak in their garage or classic editions of Omni.

It was also important that these pictures had a sense of humor and evoked the unbridled passion for technology that permeates everyone who is a part of The Verge.

The office was turned into a makeshift studio with the brand-new painted logo as the main focal point on the wall. The props were sensational: vintage tech and gadgets of all shapes and sizes — including a mint-condition Apple Newton and some truly huge mobile phones. The choices for wardrobe were eclectic in the extreme; think Mad Men meets Wired. And everyone managed to come up with their own individual look, even if that look was to look like they didn’t have a look.

Client: The Verge / Vox Media
Creative direction, photography and retouching: James Bareham
Producer: Kyle Kramer