
Gordon Parks - Muhammed Ali - 20th Century - Gelatin Silver
🌎International Shipping Available
🚚Estimated Dispatch Within 1 Business Day
GORDON PARKS (1912-2006)
Muhammed Ali
Printed 1990s
9" x 7" (Image Size)
Silver Gelatin Print
Of all the portraits taken by Parks, perhaps none is as stunning as the close-up of Muhammad Ali, emerging mottled with sweat from a shadowy background. The essay this image introduced appeared in the September 9, 1966, issue of Life, at a time when Ali was embattled both in and out of the boxing ring.
Parks met Ali in Miami, where the champ was training. Accompanying him to London for his next fight, Parks crafted a psychological portrait of Ali that most Americans might never have imagined. While Ali came off as supremely confident, even arrogant, in his public appearances, Parks bore witness to his courtesy and charm. “The Redemption of the Champion” sought to rehabilitate Ali’s image by showing the human side of the smooth-talking fleet-footed boxer. It contained anecdotes about Ali’s patience, and quotations that revealed his concern for the opinion of others, especially the African-Americans who lionized him.