The Best of Leifer

The art of action photography and portraiture is displayed in this stunning collection of Neil Leifer's best color and black-and-white images. Covering subjects from sports to politics and from celebrities to celebrations, on assignment from Sports Illustrated, Time, LIFE, Newsweek and other leading publications, Neil Leifer has traversed the world. For more than four decades he has had the best seat in the house at many of the world's major events and most thrilling competitions, including dozens of World Series games, hundreds of professional and college football games, fifteen Olympics and an equal number of Kentucky Derbies, scores of golf and tennis tournaments, and almost every major boxing match. Leifer's artistry, composition, and unerring instinct for photographing just the right moment are evident in the memorable pictures featured her. Among his best known images are a triumphant Muhammad Ali defeating Sonny Liston in 1965, considered by many to be the best sports picture of all time; a dazzling Kristi Yamaguchi in midair on her way to Olympic gold; Michael "Air" Jordon slam-dunking; the legendary Secretariat at Churchill Downs capturing the first leg of the Triple Crown; and a pantheon of other sports superstars.
But as this collection amply displays, Leifer also offers awesome views of many nonsporting subjects, including popes, presidents, prisoners, African wildlife, aircraft carriers, and Hollywood celebrities. Here are F-18s in flight above burning oil fields in Kuwait; the realistic submarine set used in The Hunt for Red October; and George Bush's inauguration in 1989 with two Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan and George W., looking on.