Muhammad Ali: A Thirty Year Journey

Howard Bingham and Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) met in 1962, while Ali was in Los Angeles to announce an upcoming fight. At the time, Bingham had never heard of Cassius Clay, but he introduced himself, snapped a few pictures, and left. Later that afternoon, they met again; Ali and his brother were standing on a street corner watching the girls go by when Bingham noticed them and offered to show them around the city. The following year, Ali asked Bingham to join him in Miami, where he was training, just to hang out for a while. They've been best friends ever since. For more than thirty years Bingham has been a witness to and a partner in the dramatic, thrilling, and tumultuous life of Muhammad Ali. And through it all, he has been there with his camera in hand, recording every facet of Ali's life like no one else. Muhammad Ali: A Thirty-Year Journey presents the best of Howard Bingham's stunning photographs of Ali. Combining the best elements of photo documentary and portraiture, Bingham shows us the life of Muhammad Ali as few people have had the privilege to witness it. Bingham's pictures show us the young Cassius Clay looking prettier than any athlete, much less a boxer, should; Clay in training as he pursues Sonny Liston and the heavyweight crown; and the young champion's growing commitment to the Nation of Islam and his relationships with Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad. Bingham's camera takes us behind the scenes as Ali refuses induction into the Army, and documents his exile from boxing and his growing presence in black America. Finally, Bingham's photographs show us Ali's return to the ring, his epic battles with Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and George Foreman, the later stages ofhis career, and his life away from boxing. But Bingham's pictures also show us a different side of Ali, moments from his private life that few have seen. He shows us a boyish Cassius Clay joyously blowing out candles on his 21st birthday cake; Ali and his first wife, Sonji, looking like two kids in love for the first time; the young fighter sitting quietly with his mother shortly before his bout with Sonny Liston; Ali hugging and kissing his young daughters on a sunny afternoon; and an older Ali bowing his head in prayer with his family and friends. And, through it all, there's Ali's face, that still beautiful face, smiling, filled with intensity, or at ease in the reflection of his best friend's lens. Muhammad Ali: A Thirty-Year Journey is a friend's tribute, a loving treasure trove, and a remarkable record of one of the most amazing lives the world has known.