It was the summer of 1963 and Steve Schapiro, the venerable Sports Illustrated portrait photographer was traveling to Lousville, Kentucky to accompany the still rising boxing star Cassius Clay on a road trip to New York City. Clay, who had just won an Olympic gold medal, was not yet known as Muhammad Ali, yet the bombastic persona, sharp tongue, black pride, and wit that made Ali a legend was still very much there.
Schapiro, over the course of five days on the road with Ali, managed to gain his trust and capture a raw honesty and openness on film. What Schapiro’s images showed was Ali in a great dichotomy: on one hand posing and preening for the camera in charge of his own image, and on the other candid and unguarded at home with his family, interacting in his community, and living in his neighborhood.
In Ali, Schapiro has gathered his best images of the late boxer, some of them appearing in print for the very first time. When consumed in context they provide a poignant portrait of the star on the rise. These early images capture the talent, grace, athleticism, controversy, and influence that was only just beginning to form in this American icon.
For other books on one of the most influential American athletes of all time, also check out Ali: A Life by Jonathan Eig.