Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay on this day, January 17, in 1942. He converted to Islam after 1961 and in 1964 changed his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his “slave name”, to Muhammad Ali. Karsh said of his 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.’”