Leifer

Neil Leifer
Photo By- Christopher T. Assaf
e- http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/09/photographer-neil-leifer-images-w

Neil Leifer
• Neil Leifer is a very famous sports photojournalist. Neil also
worked in other areas of photojournalism but is best known
for his work in the sports field. He has taken countless
historical photographs in sports and other areas. He is a
very talented photojournalist. Some of the most famous
photos in sports history were taken by him.Larry Berman
said “Neil Leifer has photographed 15 Olympic Games, 4 World
Soccer Cups, 15 Kentucky Derbies, lots World Series games, the
first 10 Super-bowls and almost every big heavyweight title fight
starting in the 1960’s.” Some people say he was just very lucky and he just always
seemed to be at the right place at the right time. There are people that think was just lucky and not that
skilled of a photojournalist.

Career Path
• Neil Leifer worked for Sports Illustrated when he first started
in photojournalism. At age 16 he sold images to Sports
Illustrated. He actually had his first cover shot for Sports
Illustrated at age 19. After a while he wanted to branch out
and cover a wider range of things. He decided to go work
for Time Magazine. He also had work published in Saturday
Evening Post, Look, LIFE, and Newsweek. His worked was
published in these publications numerous times. He also
published some of his work later in numerous books that he
created. These books were very successful. He was able to
share lots of his great photographs in his books that were
never published before.

Photo by- Neil Leifer
Image source- http://neilleifer.com/portfolio/julius-erving/?g=134803997
Taken On- 3-9-1997
This is a photo of Julius Erving (Dr.J). He is dunking on the Denver Nuggets at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
The light in this photo is perfect. The lighting draws your eye to Dr.J while he dunking. The really cool thing
about the lighting is how there is some burst of light behind Dr.J. This burst of light really adds to the photo.
Dr.J’s expression is very intriguing. He looks so focused and intent on dunking the ball. It looks like he is
shutting everyone out and just focusing on the rim. He is not hamming it up for anyone. This is defiantly not a
posed photo as he is in the middle of the game. The focusing of this photo really adds to the image. Dr.J is in
focus and really pops in the photo. The other players and fans are a little blurred. This draws your eye right to
Dr. J. I am a big Dr.J fan and I really enjoy watch clips of him playing. He was such a talented player and this
photo really showcases his highflying ability.

Era
• Neil said in an interview that he “started taking pictures around1954 or
1955”. Photojournalism was really gaining traction as a
profession when Neil started. He started at a very
young age. Sports photojournalism was starting to bud as a profession during this time. Neil
really was in the midst of the start of the big boom of sports photojournalism. During this
era boxing was very popular and capturing the fights
with photojournalism was very big. An example of this is how Muhammad
Ali one of the greatest boxers of all time liked Neil’s work so much he only liked Neil to photograph
him.

Motivation
• Neil had a lot motivation. He grew up on the Lower East Side of
Manhattan. He grew up in a poor and a very tough neighborhood. His motivation was to
get out of that neighborhood and to be successful. He used
photojournalism to do this. He always really loved sports and
photography. When he was young he combined his to passions. He
started going to sporting events and taking photos while he was
there. Neil is quoted saying he “began shooting sports pictures because it was combining
two things that I liked. The idea of getting the best seat in the house at an event and doing something I
enjoy doing, which was taking pictures, the combination was perfect.” This was is motivation
to to be a photojournalist. He also said the he liked to see his name in print next to the
photos he took. This motivated him to perfect his craft. He really enjoyed going an
photographing the local teams like the Dodgers baseball team (when they were in New York).

Image source-http://neilleifer.com/portfolio/vince-lombardi/?g=134803997
Taken On- 1-14-1968
This is a photo of Vince Lomardi. Vince Lombardi had just coached the Packers to victory over the Raiders in the
second ever Superbowl . He is being carried by Jerry Kramer. The main subject of the photo is Vince Lombardi,
he is in the middle of the frame. If Jerry or the other players were left out of the photo it would really detract from
the photo. The photo would not have the same feeling if they were not in the image. Vince is not crowding the
edges of the photo he is perfectly captured in the frame. The use of lines really draw your eye to Vince. The way
he is contorted in the photo and the use of horizontal lines adds to this photo. The contrast is very appropriate.
The top portion of the photo where Vince’s head is light because of the stadium lights. The darker lining of the
clouds really adds to the image. The bottom portion of the photo where Vince’s legs and feet are, is darker which
draws your eye to the top of the photo. The contrast in this photo is perfect and really makes the picture
incredible. While I am not a Packers fan I am a big fan of Vince Lombardi he is one of the best coaches of all time
in all sports in my opinion. The pure happiness on his face and Jerry’s face adds so much character to the image.

Technology
• When Neil first started taking photos at age 13 he could not afford a camera. He was lucky
enough to go to a community center that was able to provide them with cameras. These
cameras were all donated. This camera and film that was given to him helped him to realize
his passion. Neil talks about how around 1958 he had a “Yashica Mat, the poor man’s
Rolliflex, and shot a few pictures.” Neil also used something called strip photography in the
1970’s to photograph athletes. Matt Christopher said strip photography is a “technique is a
photographic and cinematographic process where a moveable slide, into which a strip has
been cut, is inserted between the camera and the subject to be photographed.” Another
example of an interesting turn of events with technology is when Neil photographed the
Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston boxing match. He was one of two photographers to have
color film in his camera when Ali knocked Sonny out. That photo became one of the best
sports photos ever taken. It is a lot easier now for photojournalists to get great close
photographs. It is amazing that Neil was able to get the amazing photos he did. Sports
photography was heard because people were constantly moving and it was not as easy as
it is today to get great action snapshots. Neil did a fantastic job of doing this with the little
technology he had. It just goes to show that a great camera is not everything, you have to
have an eye and a special talent to get the pictures he got.

Ethics
• Everyone faces ethical dilemmas. Neil was not exempt from this he
too has faced ethical dilemmas. He covered many different types
of events and I am sure faced many ethical dilemmas. He covered
wars, athletics, politics and many other things. One example is
when he photographed the Ali vs Williams fight. He photographed
Williams laying on the ground after being knocked out. Ethically
that can be a bit of a dilemma because he is photographing a man
who has just been knocked out. As I said before he photographed
wars as well which is very tough ethically. This is because it is hard
to know what is ethically okay to photograph. I have looked at a
number of Neil’s photos and no of them appear to me that any of
his original photos were tampered with. They all look very real and
un-doctored to me and that is conformed by my research.

Bias
• Every photojournalist has biases. We all actually have biases.
One bias that he might have had was that he was pretty close
to Muhammad Ali. He might have tried to photograph Ali only
in a good way because they were friendly. It would have been easy for
Neil to take photos of Ali that made him look really good. It
also would have been easy to take photos of Ali that would
have affected his image. Neil never did that he only got
photos of Ali that were pretty much good for Ali’s image for
the most part. Since Neil was from New York it would have
been easy for him to have a bias towards the New York based
teams. As I said before everyone has biases whether we
know it or not. Neil most likely has biases that he does not
even know that he has.

Image http://neilleifer.com/portfolio/ali-williams-overhead/?g=134803997
Taken On- 11-14-1966
This is a photo of Muhammad Ali knocking out Cleveland Williams. The use of shadows in the photo are really
neat. The shadow of Ali raising his hands in victory is very cool. Also on the other end you see the shadow of the
referee waiving his hands to stop the fight. This is a very simple photo. It is basically just of Ali standing up and
Williams on the ground. The simplicity really makes the image so good. The white floor of the ring adds a shinny
texture to the image. It really makes the people around the ring and the boxers really stand out. The shiny floor
draws your eye to ring immediately. The exposure time of this photo is perfect. It was a fast shutter speed to
capture all of these peoples movements in the photo at the perfect time. It is perfectly clear and not blurry at all.
The fast shutter speed caught Ali , the referee and Williams at the exact perfect time. I really enjoy boxing a lot
and I have actually watched this fight a few times. This is a great image.

Impact
• Neil had so many great photos that affected society. His
photos told a unique story. He always seemed to capture
the best moments. A great example of his impact is one
photo he took captured millions of peoples attention. One of
perhaps his greatest photos and arguably one of the best sports photos of all time is a photo he took of
Muhammad Ali. He captured Ali standing over Sonny Liston after
he knocked him out. This photo spoke to a lot of people
because of how powerful it is. The photo spoke to a lot of
people about how hard work pays off. He changed the
way that sports photojournalism was done. He impacted
the entire industry with his will and tenacity.

Sports Management
• I chose Neil Leifer because he is such a big part in
documenting sports over the years. He has taken some of
the most famous photos in the sports world. Since I one day
want to work in the sports industry this really caught my
attention. I want to be a sports agent. I realized that these
photos helped tremendously with marketing athletes and
what it did for there careers. It also did not hurt that one of
my favorite photos of all time is the photo he took of Ali
standing over Sonny Liston. I can only imagine the field day
that Ali’s agent and manager had with that photo. That
photo is and was everywhere there client was all over the
world and on every front page. Sports photojournalists play
a giant role in the sports world.

Viewpoints
• Neil’s colleagues see Neil as a great photojournalism. Others say that he
has just been very lucky. Most of the photojournalism community sees him as having a great and
powerful impact on photojournalism, especially in sports photojournalism. He also has his detractors.
Neil has branched off and done things in video and has received a lot of criticism for his work that area.
Photojournalists in other disciplines say that he should have stuck with sports photojournalism and
should not have branched out. He cover many things sports and not sports
related in his vast career. There are always going to be people that
say he was just in the right time in the right place. While Sports
Illustrated called him “one of the best in the business”. There were also anti-
boxing community members who did not condone boxing and did
not like the boxing photos he took. They thought that it promoted
violence.

Image Source- http://neilleifer.com/portfolio/muhammad-ali-vs-sonny-liston-1965-world-heavyweight-title-2/?g=134803997
Taken On- 5-25-1965
This is a photo Muhammad Ali famously knocking Sonny Liston out. I spoke about this photo numerous time
in my presentation. I did this because I really like this photo a lot it is one of my favorite photos of all time.
The background really adds to this photo. You can just see the people in complete shock at what Ali was
able to do. He knocked Sonny out without really even breaking a sweat. The people in the background
really personify the shock that everyone was feeling. This photo is representational of passion. The amount
of passion Ali has on his face is ridicules. You can just see the passion pouring out of him after he knocked
Sonny out with ease.This photo creates a lot of feelings for me. This photo proves that anything can happen
and that we should not underestimate others. This photo is an iconic sports photo. This photo makes me
believe that if I work hard enough no matter how impossible a goal seems I can succeed and reach my
goal. This photo is in color because Neil actually was one of two photojournalist who happened to have
color film in there camera at the time this photo was taken.

Leifer

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