We are excited to announce Iconography: Series One, dropping 11/22 at 3:30 PM PT, represents the Genesis NFT Collection of Award-Winning Photographer Ethan Pines.
Transforming iconic images within the collection include:
– The Portrait of Elizabeth Holmes Holding the Theranos ‘Nanocontainer’ which was used for the Cover Art of HBO’s Documentary
– Elon Musk Photographed Inside a SpaceX Rocket-Fuel Tank
– Ultra-Rare Professional Portraits of Ethereum Co-Creator Vitalik Buterin
Iconography: Series One offers new artworks based on Pines’ portraits of a unique trifecta of icons in the tech and crypto worlds: Elon Musk, Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.
The source portraits are themselves iconic: Elizabeth Holmes holding the ‘nanocontainer’ that was used as the cover art for HBO’s documentary The Inventor; Elon Musk photographed inside a SpaceX rocket-fuel tank; and some of the only professional portraits of Vitalik Buterin in existence. Captured during Ethan’s decade photographing tech luminaries for Forbes and other magazines, these pieces are not simply defining portraits of the subjects, but illuminations of the current era of tech itself.
Pines has transformed his portraits into mesmerizing animations ranging from playful to hypnotic to haunting. The resulting NFTs will be offered as a combination of unique (1/1) works and limited editions, beginning at 3:30pm PT on November 22.
ABOUT ETHAN PINES
An award-winning commercial, editorial and fine-art photographer, Ethan Pines has created some of the most iconic portraits of our time. Highlights of his 20-year career include photographing Elon Musk, Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (his portrait became the poster for the HBO documentary on her), Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, Uber founder Travis Kalanick, Shaquille O’Neal, Jackie Chan, Kesha, and countless other celebrities and tech luminaries.
His work has spanned ad campaigns for Dolby, Genentech, SolarCity, Universal Studios and others; regular editorial projects for Forbes, Wired, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal; numerous group exhibitions; and a solo show at New Theme gallery in Los Angeles. He’s been honored by the Communication Arts Photo Annual, the Graphis Photography Annual, the American Photography Annual and the International Photography Awards.
Iconography: Series One
PREVIEW THE DROP/ARTIST STATEMENTS
Vitalik Video Grid
Editions: One
Pricing: Accepting Offers Only
*A 24 hour auction will be triggered once reserve price met
Vitalik, Assembling and Disassembling
Editions: One
Pricing: Accepting Offers Only
*A 24 hour auction will be triggered once reserve price met
Ethan Pines On Vitalik Buterin:
My shoot with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in 2018 was one of the strangest I’ve ever had. We shot in a tiny garage below a secret house in San Francisco. Vitalik and a few others were gathered upstairs. I don’t know if they were hatching crypto plans or playing parlor games, but there was laughter, raucous shouting and loud thudding on the floor above while we were setting up.
I pride myself on my ability to put people at ease, to draw out genuine moments, and I’ve never felt so incompetent. He seemed uncomfortable and awkward. My small talk, even about blockchain, went nowhere. Getting natural, relaxed body language — intuitive for most of us — was like pulling teeth. Ironically, I think all this difficulty helped us capture the real Vitalik: he’s an enigma. We got these unexpected moments — deep, odd, expressive, mysterious — that convey what he’s really like. He was game for anything. He was real enough to be himself and not fake comfort. He can’t suddenly become conventional for a photoshoot.
With the rising significance of blockchain and the disruptive nature of cryptocurrency, Vitalik might be the portrait subject of mine who ends up with the greatest long-term impact on the world. And since NFTs are based on the Ethereum blockchain, I feel there’s a strange meta loop in an NFT of the Ethereum creator. These are not just the defining portraits of him; they are just about the only portraits of him.
Thank you, Vitalik. It was a unique, memorable shoot. Hope I got it right.
Elizabeth Holmes with Nanotainer
Editions: One
Pricing: Accepting Offers Only
*A 24 hour auction will be triggered once reserve price met
Elizabeth Holmes: 220 Faces
Editions: 5
Pricing: $1000/edition
*Final edition will be auctioned
Ethan Pines on Elizabeth Holmes:
When I photographed Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes for the Forbes 400 cover, she was the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. A year later, Forbes estimated her net worth at zero. My portrait of her holding a “nanotainer” ended up as key art for the HBO documentary The Inventor. And now she’s on trial.
What struck me at the shoot was how accessible she was. I’ve photographed many tech CEOs, and no one gives you two hours of time like she did. She was polite, genuine and friendly. Though not talkative, she asked about me and my crew. She did her own hair and makeup (quite well). She spent much of her time without her publicist around. She ceded control, took direction and avoided the power poses that Forbes shoots tend to attract. She was a dream subject. I asked her to relax her face and just look into the camera, and we got these deep, wide-eyed, blank stares. If you flip through the shots — as one of my animated NFTs does — you’ll see that most of them include that now infamous stare.
These images are the iconic, essential portraits of her. While they began as portraits of a young Silicon Valley visionary, I now feel they’re indicative of this entire era in tech: the fake-it-till-you-make-it ethos, the desire to believe in visionaries and saviors, the often-accompanying market mania.
With hindsight, does my experience at Theranos help illuminate the mania and the collapse? This larger-than-life luminary spent time with me and my crew and made us feel important. She brought sincerity. Relatability. Accessibility. A facade of quiet wisdom. Eye contact from huge blue eyes that made you feel you were hearing the truth. Perhaps all this contributed to investors neglecting their due diligence? You couldn’t help wanting to believe in her.
Elon Musk with Rotating Second-Stage Fuel Tank
Editions: One
Pricing: Accepting Offers Only
*A 24 hour auction will be triggered once reserve price met
Elon Musk Inside Second-Stage Fuel Tank
Editions: 5
Pricing: $1000/edition
*Final edition will be auctioned
Ethan Pines on Elon Musk:
For my shoot with Elon Musk, Spacex let me scout their headquarters for locations — a dream come true for anyone beguiled by outer space as a child — and I found this massive second-stage fuel rocket with a sci-fi interior. After a few discussions and instructions on what couldn’t be shown, Spacex gave it the green light. We shot in here as our final setup. By this point it was just me, my assistant and Elon. Quite unusual to have someone like Elon all to yourself for any stretch of time, but Elon is an unusual guy.
I try to use locations to illustrate a story whenever possible. The best locations transcend the story, elevating the photograph beyond the specifics, and this was one of those instances. There are plenty of images of Elon, but nothing like this. The fuel tube says Spacex and space travel, of course. But it also reads like outer space itself, like a vast circular void populated by stars. The receding elements lead you towards this mysterious circle, this alien technology in the deep dark distance. And Elon in the foreground is the gatekeeper to this mystery, to this future. I also love that he showed up in basic jeans and a plaid shirt.
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