Karsh Signature

Yousuf Karsh, master photographer of the 20th century

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali Hands, 1970

Muhammad Ali was born on this day, January 17, in 1942. Karsh wrote of their sitting “I photographed (Ali) in 1970, as part of a series of young people for ‘Look’ Magazine. Muhammad Ali arrived at my New York studio with a breathless young editor trailing behind. They had jogged together from the ‘Look’ offices, the young editor carrying Ali’s heavy portable telephone which Ali said kept him in ‘constant contact with the world.’ Since the editor was a slight young man, I smiled to myself as I imagined this improbable duo and the incredulous stares of the passers-by as they made their way up Madison Avenue.

See more portraits of Muhammad Ali by Yousuf Karsh.

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