Joe McNally: Photographing the Olympian, Part One

Via Joe McNally

August 2, 2024

 

In 1996, I photographed the US Olympic team–in the nude. It was controversial back then. Now, not so much. But I ended up on the Today Show, Good Morning America and all sorts of news outlets, with commentators and pundits breathlessly exclaiming to me about the audacity of it. Some loved it, others were offended. Which was ok by me, ’cause it meant somebody actually looked at the pictures.

At the time, Gail Devers was the fastest woman in the world. She overcame Graves’ disease to become one of the most decorated female athletes of all time. I went to Los Angeles to photograph her and used a studio located in a hangar at Santa Monica Airport.

She made it plain she would not do a full nude, so you get creative. I was after unadorned body parts as well. Genius that I am, I wanted to photograph her legs. They were the engine, right? So I made this picture. Nice enough.

We were running down on time and starting to pack up. I was happy with the photo. But then I asked, “Is there any other physical attribute you can think of that is responsible for your success as a sprinter?” She replied, “Well, I’m pretty strong.” And did this.

We grabbed a couple of v-flats, put a black one behind her and filled in the cloudy daylight with a bit of bounced light from another large white board, right there on the tarmac outside the hangar. Shot it in about five minutes. It won first place in the Portrait Division at the World Press Awards that year.

You never know. Always ask the question, otherwise, it can be a long plane ride home.

Sports! On and Off the Field with Joe McNally

 Via Adorama

Photographer, Director, Author, Storyteller: Joe McNally

Take a trip around the track or up and down the field with Joe McNally. In the studio or on the playing field, he has photographed sports and athletes in an incredible variety of ways, from stylized action in a controlled environment, where everything is orchestrated to create impact, to the unpredictable hurly-burly of competition. Under discussion will be camera work, Olympic prep and action, studio and location portraiture, concept-driven images of sports stars, and imaginative solutions to create vibrant, compelling images illuminating the obsession to be the best that possesses every high-level competitor. A lively discussion with Seth Miranda, aka Last Witness, precedes a live demo in the Adorama presentation space. 

Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose prolific career includes assignments in 70 countries. McNally won the first Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Journalistic Impact for a LIFE coverage titled, “The Panorama of War.” McNally has been honored numerous times by Communication Arts, PDN, Graphis, American Photo, POY, and The World Press Photo Foundation. McNally is masterful at lighting and is known for his large-scale production work, in addition to his vast storytelling experience which stems from assignment work for legendary publications such as LIFE and National Geographic. His work is regularly cited in social media surveys as a source of inspiration and industry leadership.

Bill Eppridge's Photograph in the NY Times Obituary for Bobby Hull

 Via The New York Times

January 30, 2023

Hull’s slap shot over the years was measured at between 97 and 120 miles per hour.

Credit...Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collection

View more of Bill Epprdge's photography here

Short biographical video:  The Legacy of Bill Eppridge

Sports photographer Neil Leifer on his legendary 60-year career

 

Via CBS News

February 24, 2021

View Neil Leifer's photography here.

NEIL LEIFER: RELENTLESS

Neil Leifer

Muhammad Ali Training, Fifth Street Gym, Miami, October, 1970

Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM, in conjunction with the Briscoe Center for American History, is pleased to host a special exhibition and book signing celebrating Neil Leifer's most recent book, "Relentless”. The exhibition opens with a reception and book signing with the photographer on Friday, July 29, 5 – 7:30 PM.

Neil Leifer is the best-known sports photographer of the past half century.  Now, in Relentless, a collaborative publication of the Dolph Briscoe Center and the University of Texas Press, Leifer takes us behind the scenes of some fifty of his most iconic pictures. Starting with his shot of Baltimore Colt Alan Ameche scoring the game-winning touchdown against the New York Giants during sudden death overtime in the 1958 NFL Championship game at Yankee Stadium—taken on Leifer’s sixteenth birthday—he tells enthralling, often hilarious stories of getting to the right place at the right time to capture many of the legendary athletes of the twentieth century, including Mickey Mantle, Arthur Ashe, Willie Mays, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Namath, and Arnold Palmer, as well as shooting presidential and celebrity portraits and covering a variety of subjects for Time. Recapping both an incredibly successful career and the transformation of photojournalism since the era of the great photo magazines, Relentless effectively chronicles fifty years of American popular culture

Relentless:  400 pages with 276 black & white and color photos, $45, is available from the Gallery.

Neil Leifer's photograph are included in the exhibition: Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present at the Brooklyn Museum through January 8, 2017.

Neil Leifer: 1963 World Series Final Game - Sandy Koufax celebrating with Maury Wills, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

Brooklyn Museum: Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present

George Silk

Kathy Flicker's perfect 10 point dive at Princeton University's Dillon Gym Pool

©Time Inc.

Via The Brooklyn Museum

July 15, 2016–January 8, 2017
Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor

Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present is one of the first museum exhibitions to put sports photographers in the forefront and is the most comprehensive presentation of sports photography ever organized. It encompasses approximately 230 works—from daguerreotypes and salted paper prints to digital images—that capture the universal appeal of sports, highlighting unforgettable moments of drama and excitement from around the globe.

The 170 photographers represented in Who Shot Sports include Richard Avedon, Al Bello, David Burnett, Rich Clarkson, Georges Demeny, John Dominis, Dr. Harold Edgerton, Rineke Dijkstra, Brian Finke, Toni Frissell, Ken Geiger, LeRoy Grannis, David Guttenfelder, Ernst Haas, Charles "Teenie" Harris, Walter Iooss, Jr., Heinz Kleutmeier, Stanley Kubrick, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Neil Leifer, Étienne-Jules Marey, Bob Martin, Martin Munkacsi, Edward Muybridge, Catherine Opie, Leni Reifenstahl, Robert Riger, Alexander Rodchenko, Howard Schatz, Flip Schulke, George Silk, Barton Silverman,  Andy Warhol, and Stephen Wilkes.

"Today, it is the photographers who give sports its indelible image," says Gail Buckland, who returns as guest curator after the 2009 exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present. "Seeing athletic greatness, we both recognize our personal physical limitations and delight in bodies and minds taken to new heights. To play and to watch sports is to be in the moment. Still photographers are masters of moments."

Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present is organized by guest curator Gail Buckland. The Brooklyn presentation is coordinated by Lisa Small, Curator of Exhibitions, Brooklyn Museum.
A companion book of the same title, published by Alfred A. Knopf, accompanies the exhibition.

Monroe Gallery of Photography, in conjunction with the Briscoe Center for American History, is pleased to host a special exhibition and book signing celebrating Neil Leifer's most recent book, "Relentless”. The exhibition opens with a reception and book signing with the photographer on Friday, July 29, 5 – 7:30 PM.

Muhammad Ali, Titan of Boxing and the 20th Century, Dies at 74

Bob Gomel: Cassius Clay, Miami, 1964

The New York Times:  Muhammad Ali, Titan of Boxing and the 20th Century, Dies at 74

Neil Leifer:  Muhammad Ali Knocks Out Sonny Liston, Lewiston, Maine, May 25, 1965                                

A look back at selected Muhammad Ali posts from our blog:

Sonny Liston landed on canvas below Muhammad Ali’s feet on May 25, 1965, and Neil Leifer snapped a photo

On Friday, March 6, 1964, Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali

Cassius Clay couldn’t sleep in Miami Beach after beating Sonny Liston there in the legendary 1964 bout

March 8: Today In History: 'The Fight Of The Century'

Steve Schapiro: Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay - Monopoly), Louisville, Kentucky, 1963

Visit our Pop-Up Tribute exhibition now on view in the gallery.
Neil Leifer will be signing copies of his new book Relentless: The Stories behind the Photographs 

 in the gallery July 29, 2016
Pre-orders available

The Sports Photography of Neil Leifer

NEWSEUM
Concourse level
On exhibit through August 12, 2012



WASHINGTON — Experience some of the greatest moments in sports history through the lens of legendary sports photographer, Neil Leifer.

The exhibit, "Photo Finish: The Sports Photography of Neil Leifer," includes 50 images from the prolific career of a man who began taking pictures as a teenager and went on to become one of the most celebrated sports photographers in history.

The exhibit opens Nov. 18 and features Leifer's best-known photos, including one of the most famous sports photographs of all time: boxer Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston after knocking him out in the first round of their 1965 title fight.

Each photograph in the exhibit is accompanied by the story behind the image, told in Leifer's own words. The exhibit also includes an original Newseum-produced video in which the photographer talks about his photos and his subjects.

This exhibit was created in collaboration with Sports Illustrated.

Slide show here

...AND THEY'RE OFF!

Neil Leifer: The 1965 Kentucky Derby, with Lucky Debonaire and Bill Shoemaker, Churchill Downs, May 1, 1965.

Neil Leifer: The First Turn,  1965 Kentucky Derby

 

It’s really easy to name the most incredible athlete I’ve ever seen, and I always say it was Muhammad Ali, but when you really sit down to think about it, I’m not so sure that the most incredible performance I’ve ever seen was at an Ali fight. I’ve never photographed Tiger Woods, but watching Tiger on television in 2000 gave you the same feeling as watching Secretariat run away with the Triple Crown races in 1973. This picture was taken at the finish line of the Kentucky Derby. Look closely at it: have you ever seen a more powerful-looking athlete, or should I say a horse? It also clearly shows how convincing Secretariat’s Derby victory was, and this victory wasn’t nearly as convincing as the one he would pull off at the Belmont Stakes five weeks later. The picture is also very different from the traditional under-the-rail finish line shot. I forgot about the famed spires for this picture and isolated Secretariat. It was a gamble, but it worked out beautifully. I had no idea how great Secretariat was, and what a legend he would become. Five weeks later everyone knew. People had always talked about a Triple Crown winner when I was growing up, but it seemed like it would never happen again. Then along came Secretariat, and not only did it happen, but in a style so convincing that it was hard to believe that any single athlete/horse could be so better than his competition.
 -- Neil Leifer

Neil Leifer: Secretariat, The Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY, May 5, 1973

The Kentucky Derby Website

APRIL 15: 64TH ANNIVERSAY OF DAY JACKIE ROBINSON BROKE BASEBALL'S COLOR BARRIER

Ralph Morse: Jackie Robinson rounding Third base during the third game of the World series against the Yankees, 1955

Today is Jackie Robinson Day throughout the Majors, marking the 64th anniversary of the day baseball's color barrier was broken. It also commemorates the 64th anniversary of his historic debut in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Almost 14,000 of the 26,623 in attendance at Robinson's first game, which took place at Ebbets Field, were black patrons

The barrier-breaking legend retired from baseball in 1956, and passed away October 24, 1972 at the age of 53.


Major League Baseball: Jackie Robinson Day

The Official Jackie Robinson Site

Related: 55 Years Ago, Jackie Robinson Steals Home Base

Today In History: 'The Fight Of The Century'

John Shearer/LIFE

Muhammad Ali dodges a hook thrown by Joe Frazier. Although Ali lost the match, he proved his stamina by standing through 15 rounds.

Via NPR Picture Show
by Claire O'Neill
March 8, 2011


Today, 40 years ago, there was a big event. The media called it "The Fight of the Century." In Life magazine, it was "The Battle Of Undefeated Champs."


After more than three years in forced retirement for refusing to fight in Vietnam, Muhammad Ali was back to contend in the world heavyweight championship. He was pitted against the reigning champ, Joe Frazier. And they were each, no matter what, to receive an unprecedented $2.5 million for entering the ring.


To honor the momentous fight, Life has published a gallery of photos, many never before seen, taken by John Shearer, who at the time was merely in his 20s. (Joining Shearer as a Life photographer at the fight was amateur photographer Frank Sinatra.)

In addition to shooting the fight, though, Shearer documented the two contenders in the time leading up to the fight: the media circus that surrounded them both; the outspoken — and sometimes unsportsmanlike — antipathy between them; even Ali's small gut (three years is a long time to go without a fight).

Those three years caught up with Ali in the last round, when Frazier received the title by a unanimous decision. Another three years later, though, Ali won the title back.

John Shearer/LIFE

Muhammad Ali taunts Joe Frazier in Pennsylvania at Frazier's training headquarters. Both Shearer's photos and the 1971 Life article portray the outspoken aggression between the fighters.

John Shearer

Ali, along with Puerto Rican light heavyweight Jose Torres (in suit) and others, gather at legendary boxing promoter Chris Dundee's gym in Miami Beach, Fla., in February 1971.