Gordon Parks - Captures Muhammed Ali Praying, 1966 - Print in Colors
Gordon Parks
Muhammad Ali in training, Miami Beach, Florida, 1966, by Gordon Parks.
8" x 10"
Print in Colors Print
When Life magazine sent Gordon Parks to photograph Muhammad Ali in Florida in 1966, it marked the start of one of the most important relationships in Ali’s career. The champion was 24 and preparing to fight Henry Cooper in London, but he had recently alienated many fans in the States by joining up with the Nation of Islam, speaking in favor of racial segregation, and declaring that he would not fight for his country in Vietnam. “I don’t have no quarrel with those Viet Congs!”
He went to see Ali on something of a mission. He wanted to reclaim the fighter as a true American hero, show Ali’s humanity at a time when the press was calling him a brash and “shameless traitor”. Parks was encouraged as soon as he walked into Ali’s hotel room. “Sit down,” Ali said. “They tell me you’re the greatest.”