Neil Leifer is a renowned sports photojournalist with over 50 years of experience. He is best known for his iconic photograph of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston after knocking him out in 1965. Leifer began his career in 1960 freelancing for major magazines before being hired by Sports Illustrated, then later working for Time magazine. Throughout his career, Leifer covered many major sporting events and athletes, especially boxing matches. He experienced major changes in photographic technology from film cameras to digital but still believes the new technologies help photographers capture better images. Leifer's photograph of Ali vs. Liston came to be considered one of the greatest sports photos ever taken and demonstrates the impact a single photo can have.

1. Neil Leifer
Photojournalist Profile
By Robby Ollari

2. Neil Leifer,
longtime sports photojournalist
Source:
http://www.silversea.com/onboard/enrichm
ents/guest-lecturers/neil-leifer/

3. Bias
Photographic Style
Impact
Major at AIC
Viewpoints
Content
Career Path
Era
Motivation
Technology
Ethics

4. Neil Leifer is a well-known, award winning photojournalist. According
to Leifer's biography on his personal website, Leifer has been in the profession
for some 50-plus years now. His bio states that "beginning in 1960, his pictures
regularly appeared in every major national magazine, including the Saturday
Evening Post, Look, LIFE, Newsweek, Time and, most often, Sports
Illustrated." After all those years freelancing when his work appeared all over
the place, "Leifer eventually became a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated
before leaving in 1978 to become a staffer for Time magazine. In 1988 he was
made a contributing photographer at LIFE magazine and spent the next two
years dividing his time between Time and LIFE."
His bio proudly states that as of 1990 when he left Time Inc., Leifer's work
had been seen in "over 200 Sports Illustrated, Time, and People covers" setting
a record within the company for the most published works for a single
photographer. He's known for many examples of compelling sports
photojournalism, especially focusing on boxing. Nowadays, according to his
bio, Leifer spends his time as a filmmaker, producer and director.
Career Path

5. As I mentioned, Leifer’s biography states his career in
photojournalism started in 1960 when his work began
appearing in major magazines. So, Lefier has seen changes to
the profession since his days as a young photojournalist
when he began in 1960 – 56 years ago. The field of
photojournalism has certainly evolved in the nearly 60 years
Lefier has spent behind the lens. There of course were the
days of shooting film and Single Lens Reflexes, then came
digital cameras, the internet, and so on. So as for the
profession, Leifer has dealt with changing technology and
added pressure as the news cycle became more constant
thanks to the internet and changing technologies.
Era

6. It’s clear that one of Leifer’s motivations would be sports. A quick Google search of his
name brings up many different sports-related photos. In an interview with David Katz of The
PostGame, he “lived and breathed the Dodgers, and that was during a period of time where
the Dodgers would manage to lose the World Series every year to the Yankees.” But sports
weren’t always his top interest. In a 2002 interview with Larry Berman and Chris Maher
(bermangraphics.com), Leifer, who originally wanted to be a Navy pilot, stated: “I wasn’t
immediately attracted to photographing sports. I was more interested in photographing
Navy ships and Air Force and Navy planes. I used to cut school to photograph aircraft carriers
and battleships coming in and out of the Brooklyn Navy Yard which was across the East River
from where I lived... I took the subway and a bus out to Floyd Bennett Field which was out to
the boondocks of Brooklyn to photograph Navy planes from the highway, as they’d come in
and out for landings and takeoffs. That was my first real passion.”
Later on, Leifer said he realized, “ I really enjoyed taking pictures and Ioved seeing my
name on the credit line when they were published. As a kid I didn’t have any money and it
seemed an easy way to get into a sporting event was with a credential. The problem was that
I was fifteen years old and I didn’t have any credentials.” Eventually, Leifer would earn his
credentials an become a renowned photographer at Sports Illustrated, where he was
described in this longform piece as ”the undisputed champ of boxing photography, Leifer has
delivered some of the sport’s most iconic and memorable images in Sports Illustrated’s 60-
year history.”
Motivation

7. Leifer used different cameras depending on the time period in which
he was working. For example, according to Mark Edward Harris of
Digital Photo Pro, on his first “assignment” – in which Leifer snuck into
Yankee Stadium without credentials to cover the 1958 NFL
Championship – he used “a Yashica Mat camera, what he calls ‘a poor
man’s Rolleiflex.’” According to Dave Mondy of Slate, in Leifer’s most
memorable image – Muhammed Ali standing over Sonny Liston after
their famous fight in 1965 – Leifer used a legit Rolleiflex camera, which
according to photo editor David Schonauer, “it’s partly the color and
clarity of Leifer’s Ektachrome” which helped make this one of the most
famous sports photos of all time. In the 2002 interview with Berman and
Maher, he talked about using a 400mm Kilfitt, a Nikon 300, and said that
“in terms of shooting night football and night sports, probably the best
lens that’s ever been made is the 300mm f2.8.” made by Topcon and
Nikon.
Technology

8. Leifer also mentioned in the 2002 interview that he often times used remote
cameras, positioning the camera somewhere and shooting remotely. “The
remote cameras that I used in so many sports pictures, whether it’s under the
rail of the Kentucky Derby, over the ring at a boxing match, or just as an extra
camera to get the double play at second base,” Leifer said, adding “over the
years, some of my best photos were ones taken by remote.” When
Berman/Maher said to Leifer that today we expect cameras to be auto focus
and exposure, Leifer replied “they didn’t have anything auto then.” Shows how
far we’ve come technologically. Leifer is not a huge fan of the changing
technologies, as he calls himself “a computer illiterate.” But in a piece for the
website Still No Cheering in the Press Box, Leifer writes: “I think the cameras are
fantastic. The cameras today are so much better. The lenses are better; they’re
lighter, they’re faster, they’re sharper. The whole digital thing is a good thing
for photography.” And in his interview with Katz, he says, “I grew up putting
film in the camera, but I'm not one of those old-fashioned guys. I'll start by
telling you there is no question that digital cameras and the whole system
today is so superior to the ones we worked with.”
Technology, ctd.

9. Naturally, many of us have our favorite sports teams and athletes.
While some may be more casual fans as opposed to the diehards, in the
end, we all tend to have a team that we usually root for. Some sports
fans become attached to their heroes on the field while they’re growing
up. Leifer kind of alludes to this when he writes about Sports Illustrated
and the champ, Muhammed Ali, on Still No Cheering in the Press Box: “I
was lucky enough to be working at Sports Illustrated with, in my
opinion, the best athlete and certainly a guy who loved the camera
…My career pretty much paralleled Muhammad Ali’s career as a
successful, great heavyweight champion. You couldn’t have a better
subject … I was a boxing fan before Muhammad came along. My dad
was a fight fan and I used to watch Friday night fights with him as a kid
on television … Covering it, and being around a character like Ali, it was
easy to fall in love with photographing boxing.
Ethics

10. While he may have been favorable to Ali and developed a connection
with the boxer in his time covering him, on the other hand, Leifer said
he never really met or interacted with many of his other subjects:
“As a young photographer, other than the times that I shot in the
studio, I probably did 75, maybe even 100 covers for Sports Illustrated
on subjects that I never so much as shook hands with. When you go to
a game, you photograph the game. The hero of the game runs on the
cover of the magazine. So except when they came into the studio to
pose for a posed cover, I really didn’t meet them. Quite frankly, I can
count on one hand the number of subjects that I’ve so much as had a
cup of coffee with outside of the shoot.”
It’s understandable that the photojournalist may have had a soft
spot for Ali, one of the most prominent athletes and social activists of
the era, but overall, I would say that Leifer seems to understand his role
from an ethics perspective.
Ethics, ctd.

11. Leifer said that his career paralleled Muhammed Ali’s
career, so in a way Ali is synonymous with Leifer’s work,
considering Leifer’s most famous image he has ever taken is
the Ali-Liston shot. Leifer speaks highly of Ali – in that last
slide I quoted him saying that he was a boxing fan, that Ali
was a wonderful character, and said that you couldn’t have a
better subject than Ali.
Bias

12. This photo shows Ali
standing with Leifer and the
famous photo. It’s clear that
Leifer and Ali got along pretty
well, and perhaps Leifer may
have been a little biased in
favor of Ali. I suppose covering
athletes is a lot different than
covering the President, though.
Bias, ctd.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2016/05/06/476893044/a-
relentless-sports-photographer-explains-how-he-got-his-
shots

13. In researching Leifer, you don’t find much in terms of
Leifer talking about his specific techniques when it came to
shooting. While Dave Mondy of Slate says that “Leifer was
known for excessive preparations,” Leifer insists in several
interviews that “there's a whole lot of luck in sports
photography,” and that “luck in sports photography is
everything and what separates the really top sports
photographer from the ordinary is that when he or she gets
lucky, they don't miss. That is the key.”
Photographic Style

14. Photographic Style, ctd.
Source:
http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/05/ali_liston_50th_an
niversary_the_true_story_behind_neil_leifer_s_perfect.html
This is Leifer’s most iconic
photo, of Muhammed Ali
knocking out Sonny Liston in
their 1965 fight. Not only his
most iconic, but one of the
most iconic in all of sports
photography. Unlike many
other shots from others that
night, Leifer used color
which really brought this
picture to life. Also, the light
shining down on the ring
illuminates the subjects, as
well as creating and making
use of shadows.

15. Photographic Style, ctd.
Source:
http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/09/phot
ographer-neil-leifer-images-we-remember/#1
This image by Leifer was taken during the 1958 NFL Championship at Yankee Stadium when
Leifer was still a young 18 year-old playing around with photography. The image uses black
and white but it’s not overly dark so it doesn’t ruin the image. He has the background partly
in focus showing Yankee Stadium’s famous façade, as well as the stadium lights which like
his Ali photo also illuminate the subject. He uses an obvious main subject, which is the
group of players and this play, which was actually the winning touchdown for the
Baltimore Colts over the New York Giants.

16. Photographic Style, ctd.
Source: http://www.si.com/longform/neil-leifer/
This is also from the Ali/Liston
fight. Like Leifer mentioned in
the technology slides, this uses
a remote camera. It shows
Leifer’s creativity in going that
extra mile to gain a different
perspective while many of his
peers likely just used the
camera they had in their hands
near the ring. The fish eye lens
also provides a unique
perspective of the ring and the
crowd sitting around it.

17. Photographic Style, ctd.
Source : http://neilleifer.com/portfolio/julius-erving/
This Leifer image shows “Dr. J”
Julius Erving of the Philadelphia
76ers going up for a dunk. Leifer
used freeze motion to capture
the action. His quick shutter
speed froze the image and
created a sharp shot of Erving.
You can see his subject’s
expression, pure focus as he
goes up and finishes. Erving is
his obvious main subject as the
background does not distract
you.

18. Leifer is an acclaimed, award-winning photojournalist who has
covered everything from Super Bowls to World Series, from the
Olympics to Muhammed Ali. In an NPR All Things Considered
interview, he was asked about how the famous Ali-Liston photo
has taken on more meaning and significance over time. In his
response, Leifer said that “at the end of the century people were
calling the greatest sports photo of the century,” despite the fact
that it strangely didn’t even make the cover of SI at the time. “I
think it really grew as Ali’s legend grew,” Leifer said. Anyways, it
shows the impact a photojournalist can have when many are
regarding one of your pictures as one of the greatest pictures
within your field or the subject you cover.
Impact

19. I am a Communication major at AIC, and within my major
there are several different career paths you can follow, such
as journalism, new media, photography, video, etc. I know
some of my friends who are Communication majors have
spent a lot of time taking photos at AIC sporting events as it
is something that interests them, like Leifer. Personally, like
Leifer, I am interested in journalism, and also I know a little
bit about photography. While I’m not a skilled
photojournalist like Neil Leifer, I would love to have his
talent and considering he spent many years covering sports –
a topic I love – I would say that’s a pretty cool career path to
follow.
Major at AIC

20. Leifer has been viewed positively by many observers.
So much so that his Ali-Liston photo was widely
considered one of the greatest sports photos of the
century, as well as his awards and accomplishments. His
bio states that he “is the 2006 recipient of the
prestigious Lucie Award for Achievement in Sports
Photography,” and “in 2008 he was honored for his
outstanding contribution to Time Inc. journalism with
The Britton Hadden Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Clearly, Leifer has been viewed positively for his hard
work and dedication to his profession.
Viewpoints

21. http://neilleifer.com/biography/
http://www.thepostgame.com/interviews/201112/neil-leifer-sports-photographer-interview-sports-illustrated-ali-
liston-giants-col
http://bermangraphics.com/press/leifer.htm
http://www.si.com/longform/neil-leifer/
http://www.digitalphotopro.com/profiles/neil-leifer-master-of-the-iconic-sports-image/
http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/05/ali_liston_50th_anniversary_the_true_story_behind_neil
_leifer_s_perfect.html
http://povichcenter.org/still-no-cheering-press-box/chapter/Neil-Leifer/index.html
http://www.npr.org/2016/05/06/476893044/a-relentless-sports-photographer-explains-how-he-got-his-shots
Images cited within slides
Sources