I often listen to Jared Polin (aka FroKnowsPhoto)’s RAWtalk podcast of an evening, while smashing a few laps on F1 23 – Stephen FTW – and while I was browsing through some old podcast episodes the other night, I came across Fro’s interview with sports photographer, Neil Leifer, which originally aired on his YouTube channel.
I’m a bit of a boxing fan, so I might be a tad biased, but I think Leifer’s 1965 photograph of an enraged Muhammad Ali, standing over Sonny Liston, is not just the most famous sporting photograph of all time, but one of the most famous photographs of all time, period.
I’m talking right up there alongside Alfred Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day in Times Square, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, and Charles Ebbets’ Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, to name but a few.
And the story of how Neil captured the photo is as riveting as the image itself. But why I keep coming back to this interview again and again is to remind myself of when Neil talks about luck. He admits that sports photographers have to be in the right place at the right time, but “when you get lucky, the good ones don’t miss (...) that’s what your job is.”
It’s at that point he mentions fellow sports photography legend and Neil’s Sports Illustrated colleague, the late Herb Scharfman, who captured another – almost equally famous – boxing photo of Rocky Marciano connecting with Jersey Joe Walcott.
ABOVE: Watch Jared Polin's interview with Neil Leifer
In Neil's Ali vs Liston photo, Herb can be seen on the opposite side of the ring, right between Ali’s legs. This is why Neil says: “He’s looking up Ali’s butt, there’s no way he’s gonna get a great picture”.
This perfectly illustrates Neil’s point. He obviously admires Herb tremendously and, despite the elder sports photographer’s experience, Ali and Liston gifted the young Leifer a rare opportunity that night – and, such was his talent, he took it. The rest is cultural, sporting and photographic history.
Now, I don’t want to spoil anything else. Whether you’re into sports or photography (or both!) make sure you grab a cup of joe, take 40 minutes out of your day, and enjoy the fantastic video interview (embedded above). Maybe you’ll come back to it again and again, like me.
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