Transcript Neil Leifer
Neil Leifer Neil Leifer is a famous photographer who is mostly known for his sports photography. Leifer was born in New York in 1942. Neil became a photographer in his teens around the 1960’s. He became a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated in August of 1972. Neil’s photos were so intriguing that many other photography jobs as well as Time magazine and LIFE magazine wanted him to work for them. Neil Leifer has photographed 15 Olympic Games, 4 World Soccer Cups, 15 Kentucky Derbies, countless World Series games, the first 10 Super-bowls and every important heavyweight title fight starting in the 1960’s. Neil has influenced many photographers but if you talk to him now about his dedication to photography and filming, he would say he would devote it almost 100%. Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston This Photo at the top was taken by Neil Leifer on May 25, 1965. It is Neil’s most famous photo. The photo is about Muhammad Ali knocking Sonny Liston out with one punch in the first round of the heavyweight championship in the St. Dominick’s Arena in Maine. The lighting in the photo is from the top of the main lights shining on the boxing arena. The main subject would have to be Muhammad Ali. This picture tells a huge story in boxing history. I actually love this picture. This is a photo of Neil Leifers taken to show the Texas Longhorns football team in 1965. The picture is probably on a grayscale but if I had to guess I would think that the picture had lighting coming from the background. The main subject is the Texas football team because they have them lined up to the left with the head coach on the right. This photo does have rule of thirds. There is a story about the Texas Longhorns football team patiently waiting on the sidelines at their home game. I selected this photograph because Texas University is the college I would love to go to and get my degree at also play basketball there. The Texas Football Team “Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran” This photo was taken by Neil Leifer at the Superdome in New Orleans on November 25, 1980. This picture shows Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran fighting it out for the welterweight title. The lighting it coming from the top of the arena and shining on Sugar Ray Leonard. The main subject is Sugar Ray Leonard because he is on the left of the picture and the picture shoes that everything else except for him is blurry. This photo has the rule of thirds. The story is Sugar Ray beating Duran for the title and throwing his arms up in excitement. I chose this photo because Sugar Ray Leonard was a huge named boxer and I knew how important he is in boxing history. Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson This is a picture of Mike Tyson fighting against Evander Holyfield which is one of the greatest fights ever fought in boxing history. This was taken in Las Vegas on November 9, 1996. The lighting in the photo is directly above the fighters which makes this photo so visible to see. The main subject in the photo is Mike Tyson hitting a Evander Holyfield perfectly on the left of Holyfield's chin. This photo has the rule of thirds with Holyfield getting hit on the left of the picture. The story is Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield. This photograph just stuck out to me because of Mike Tyson’s career in boxing and how big of a fight this was. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson This is a photo of Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson in San Diego, in June of 1992. They were training for the Olympic USA basketball team. The lighting in the photo is very basic because it was a regular photo that was taken in front of a wallpaper. The main subject in the photo is clearly the three top basketball players in the middle. This picture shows a rule of thirds by how many fingers they are holding up starting from the left to the right. You can clearly tell this is telling a story about the Olympic games. I chose this photo because it is a picture of the “Dream Team.” “Pele” This is a photo of the World Cup final, in Estadio Azteca, Mexico City on June 21, 1970. The lighting is a natural outside lighting but it shines on the player and the Stadium full of fans perfectly from the top of the open stadium. The main subject would be Pele because of a terrific game he played and how everyone is holding him up once the game ended. There is a rule of thirds in this picture because of Pele being held up to the left of the photo. Neil Leifer was trying to tell a story about how well Pele played in the World Cup final. I selected this photo because I know how much the World Cup is meant to the world and how great of a player Pele was. Citation Sources: • http://www.neilleifer.com/biography.html • http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0201/nl01.htm • http://www.monroegallery.com/photographers/dis play/id/10 • http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featur ed/7842/index.htm • http://lissgallery.com/?page_id=401 • http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0201/nl22.htm