Neil Leifer
Neil Leifer Friday May 17, 2024.
“It takes a good photographer to get in the right spot and a great one doesn’t miss.”, Neil Leifer
Neil Leifer, whose career spans over 60 years, has photographed many historical events and famous people for Life, Time, People and Sports Illustrated magazines.
Those who Neil has photographed include Mohammad Ali, Joe Namath, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Fidel Castro, Charles Manson, Ronald Reagan, and the racehorse Secretariat. He has shot over 200 magazine covers. His photographs impacted the history of American pop-culture, as described in his latest book, Relentless: The Stories behind the Photographs.
Other books authored by Neil include Guts and Glory: The Golden Age of American Football 1958-1978; Neil Leifer’s Sports Stars; Sports; The Best of Neil Leifer; Neil Leifer: Ballet in the Dirt: The Golden Age of Baseball and Boxing.
According to Neil’s Relentless: The Stories behind the Photographs, Bob Costas said, “If you are a sports fan, Neil Liefer’s pictures have been shaping your impressions and memories for five decades.” Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated writer said, “He’s one of the best photographers of our time. Maybe, in fact, Neil is the very best. Certainly, the most creative.”
Neil’s first Sports Illustrated cover
October 1, 1961.
At the Beginning
Neil Leifer caught the photography bug while growing up in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan. As a teenager, his adventure into photography started while using a Brownie Hawkeye camera and joining the photography club at the Henry Street Settlement house in his neighborhood.
In the late 1950s Neil, a huge sports fan, loved the New York Giants Football team and players such as Frank Gifford, Charley Conerly, Sam Huff, and Alex Webster. Neil could not afford a ticket to the Giants’ games. So, as luck would have it, Neil (17 years old) heard about a volunteer program where he would be able to get into the games for free if he pushed a wheelchair containing a war veteran. One stipulation of the job was that he would end up at the back of one of the endzones.
On a cold and foggy afternoon, December 28, 1958, the Giants hosted the Baltimore Colts for the National Football League Championship game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Luck once again struck Neil as he carried his Yashica twin-lens reflex camera under his overcoat into the game. Neil stood patiently with his war veteran in the far endzone. The game came into sudden-death overtime, and the Colts, led by Johnny Unitas, marched down the field towards the endzone where Neil was. It was later in the afternoon and fog settled over the darkening field when Unitas handed the ball off to Allen Ameche who crossed over the goal line giving the Colts the NFL World Championship. During this winning play, Neil took out his camera and shot a historical photograph of Ameche’s touchdown run. No other photographer was at that position to get such a great photo. It just so happened that this took place on Neil’s 18th birthday.
Neil knew he had something special. The following day he took his photos to the Sports Illustrated magazine department in New York City and showed the editors his prize from the game. Although impressed, they apologized and said, ‘It was too late to add anything more into that edition of the magazine.’ Neil was undeterred: he subsequently managed to get his photos published on the inside cover of Dell Sports Magazine. Neil’s career as a professional photographer had begun.
Neil’s photograph of Allen Ameche
ContributorFootball: SI photographer Neil Leifer with camera and equipment during Cleveland Browns vs New York Giants game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
Cleveland, OH 11/26/1961
MANDATORY CREDIT: John Iacono/Sports Illustrated
SetNumber: X8113 TK1 C7 F4 - D89028
A young Neil Leifer, photo by Johnny Iacono
Friday, May 17, 2024
Andrew Haswell Green Park
New York City
1pm
Our Yellow Cab slowed as it approached the 59th Street bridge along the East River on 1st Avenue. “This is as far as I can take you to the Park” the Cabbie said to us. Cheri, my assistant and I fumbled our way out of the backseat of the cab. “I swear, These Yellow Cabs are getting smaller by the minute,” I said.
Through multiple phone conversations it was agreed we would meet Neil at the Andrew Haswell Green Park at 1pm. Neil was kind enough to scout out some interesting places for photographs prior to our arrival. That, plus the fact he lives fairly close by helps a great deal as well.
With four bags of camera equipment Cheri and I walked the needed block and a half toward the East River and under the 59th Street bridge to the park. From there we search and scout out the best position and background for Neil to be, during our shoot. Just then my cell phone rings and caller ID says - Neil Leifer calling. “Hi Neil”, I answer. “Hi Charlie, Neil says. “I can see you at the park from my apartment and I’ll be right down.”
We chose a wonderful area in the park to photograph Neil with the bridge and the red Roosevelt Island Tram cars passing by overhead. Standing at the railing by the river, we see Neil with his infectious smile. Neil appeared to be much younger than his current age of 81, as he walked with an energetic bounce down a small hill towards us.
“How are things in Winston Salem?” Neil asked. “It’s going well, I replied. It’s a small University town having Wake Forest there.” “I got an award in Winston Salem a couple of years ago,” Neil Says. “I got the Roone Arledge award.” The Roone Arledge award is an annual event given by the National Sports Media Association, in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Neil won the award in 2021.
We talk as I shoot my photographs of Neil.
One of my many photos of Neil with the 59th Street bridge and the Roosevelt Island Tram in the background.
Neil, when you were shooting sporting events, either on the sidelines of a football game or ringside of a boxing match, how did you maintain the focus of your camera as the athletes moved around?
“What has always separated the best sports photographers from the ordinary one is what I like to call hand/eye coordination. My normal lens was a 400mm to a 600mm for football or baseball or whatever, and in the old days you had to manually focus the lens. There’s a hand/eye coordination that some of the best had. Some of the bests were John Diever and Walter Ioos of Sports Illustrated had it. I was pretty good, but also John Zimmerman just had great hand/eye coordination. In football it’s easier to focus on the quarterback because you know where he’s going to be. But, with pass receivers or running backs, once they get the ball you don’t know where they’re going.”
Neil explains his unusual gift of quick focusing: “One person is able to take a blank piece of paper and do a beautiful drawing where I can’t. Or, another person can sit down at a piano and play by ear. I can’t. It’s the same thing shooting sports; it’s a hand/eye coordination of sorts. The best sports photographers always had that good hand/eye coordination – for long lenses
“Back then I used the Canon or Nikon motor drive and would shoot 4 or 5 frames a second. Today with the Sony mirrorless cameras they shoot 20 frames a second and it helps. Certainly, shooting the Derby (Neil speaking of his recent trip to photograph the 2024 Kentucky Derby) I took full advantage of that.”
How did it all start for you shooting sports?
“I was the school newspaper photographer in high school, and I belonged to the photo club at the Henry Street Settlement house in my neighborhood. They wanted to keep kids off the street. Not that I was about to become a gang banger or a druggie. That was a way to keep kids from getting into trouble.”
Neil’s photograph of Vince Lombardi
Much of sports is played in the outside elements where it was common to have moments of darker venues or less sunlight. Did you have moments of needing to push your film (intentionally underexposing the images by raising your ASA or ISO on the camera) to compensate for the lack of light?
“Oh, all the time. By the time I was shooting professionally, I had a darkroom in my basement that my father made for me. I was and still am a terrible darkroom technician. I’m sure you worked in the darkroom and it takes patience. Not one of my virtues. I was never very good. I worked for Time magazine, Life magazine and Sports illustrated. I didn’t have time to process film. You had to air freight your film back. Time-Life had the best photo lab in the world at the time. In fact, Popular Photography magazine did a major piece on the Time/Life lab stating this was the state-of-the-art photo lab. It serviced Life magazine which was a weekly, so was Time magazine and Sports Illustrated. Eventually People magazine, Fortune magazine, [and] Architectural Forum Digest. All of that stuff was done in the Time-Life lab. It was quite a big lab, and you knew there was a professional person printing your pictures as opposed to me doing it. I just wasn’t very good in the darkroom.”
You were employed by Life or by Sports Illustrated, was there ever an issue with who owned the rights to your photos?
“Yes. One has to deal with that or negotiate that. I’ve been very lucky and I’ll leave it there.”
According to the website authenticnewsroom.com, “in 2021 Neil eventually sold his prolific collection of photography to ABG (Authentic Brands Group). Through this partnership, ABG will manage the rights to the entire collection. ‘I am very proud that my photography collection will be preserved by ABG, a company that values heritage, legacy and art,’” said Neil.
Do you remember meeting Harry Benson?
“We both shot Joe Namath quite a bit. Harry got Namath to let him shoot him at home. Namath was suing Time-Life at the time and he didn’t want to pose for any of the magazines at the time.”
According to Relentless, “‘Neil,’ Joe Namath said, ‘you’re one of the few photographers that I would say yes to, but it ain’t gonna be for Life Magazine. I hate Time, Inc. I don’t care if the Time & Life building burns down.’”
“Harry’s magic was getting people to do things they didn’t want to do. I always admired that. I was a fan of Harry’s back then and we were competitors. Both of us are very competitive guys. I never wanted to win or get the cover of a magazine by screwing the other guy. But I did want to win it by taking the better picture than he did.”
In the documentary Harry Benson: Shoot First, Benson said, ‘It was touch and go between Life magazine and Sports Illustrated. Neil Leifer from Sports Illustrated is a friend of mine and I have to beat the bastard,’ Harry laughs.
Neil: ‘Joe (Namath) got himself the bachelor pad to end all bachelor pads, and of course he was the most eligible bachelor in America. I went in to the sports editor at Life. I said, ‘I have a real good relationship with Joe Namath. I think I could, probably get him to let me photograph this new bachelor pad of his. John McDermott was the editor at Life at the time, and McDermott said to me,’ ‘If you can do that, you got the assignment.’
Joe Namath: ‘Neil, there’s no way I’m going to do this. I’d really like to keep that private. But if I were going to do it, you’d be the guy.’
Neil: ‘It’s now about three months later and I walked into the sports department at Life, and there on the wall is this beautiful cover of Joe Namath sitting in an easy chair. And then I looked at the rest and there’s Joe Namath shooting pool with his pool room and I was speechless.’
Joe Namath: ‘It wasn’t my idea it was Harry (Benson) more than anything I promise you.’
Neil: ’Joe Namath is at home and the phone rang.’ ‘Who’s this?’ ‘It’s Johnny.’ Who? ‘Johnny Carson.’ Joe, there’s a friend of mine Harry Benson. He’s a good guy. I want you to help him. Neil says, ‘Joe probably made the right move and of course Harry parlayed that not only into this great spread but he ended up doing the pantyhose ad that Joe did later on and I was a fan of Harry’s from that time on.’
In Neil’s book Relentless, Harry Benson says of Neil: ‘Neil knew how to get the best picture he could possibly get. And he knew how he was going to kick everyone’s ass. I love that mentality, I do. It meant I had to try a bit harder because I didn’t want to beat other photographers. I wanted to kill them. This was not a gentle business we were in. And yes, I wanted to kill Neil too. I do have to say, though that Neil was the most definitely the best sports photographer of his generation.’
One of Neil’s photos of Joe Namath
Joe Namath said, ‘Neil’s sensational sports photographs have been some of the best I’ve ever seen.’
Mohammad Ali versus Sonny Liston
Concerning the Mohammad Ali vs Sonny Liston fight and your famous photograph, can you talk me through that experience? Could you hear Ali yelling at Liston as it was reported?
Not at all. Again, remember even with the Twin Lens Rolleiflex ringside with a wide angle, you had to focus. You had to worry about the referee getting in between you and the fighters. More importantly, the strobe light, you had a 5 or 6 second lag. You had to wait. I didn’t hear a thing. Remember, I was right on the apron. Liston was lying right here, where you’re sitting – that far away from me. There could have been no crowd; it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. You focus on what you’re doing and that’s all.
With the Rolleiflex I was probably shooting at F5.6 and the speed of the strobe was my shutter speed, but the shutter speed on the camera was set at 1/500 of a second. The strobe can sync at 1/500 of a second with a Rolleiflex, but the actual speed was the strobe. I used the Rolleiflex for basketball or hockey when I shot with a strobe.
Neil’s most legendary photograph of Mohammad Ali
knocking out Sonny Liston.
Walter Ioos, Sports Illustrated photographer, said of Neil in the book Relentless: “Ali standing over Liston. It’s considered the greatest sports picture ever taken. It replaced maybe Nat Fein’s picture of Babe Ruth retiring, which may have been the best picture of all time. But Neil has that now.”
Neil Leifer is the only photographer inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
My photograph of Neil at the Andrew Haswell Green Park in Manhattan.
Neils’ Favorite photograph.
Favorite photograph
Hanging a camera from the rafters of the Houston Astrodome perfectly captures Mohammad Ali’s knockout of Cleveland Williams in 1966. “After 55-60 years it is my favorite picture. There is nothing I would change,” Neil said. He liked this photo so much that it is the only photograph he shot that hangs in his own home.
