Neil Leifer is a renowned filmmaker and photographer with a career spanning 60 years, commencing while he was still a teenager. His photographic journey began in 1960, with his work regularly featured in every major national magazine, including Time, Life, Newsweek, the Saturday Evening Post, Look, and Sports Illustrated, where he became a staff photographer in 1972, and later a staff photographer for Time in 1978.
In 1988, Leifer was appointed a contributing photographer at Life magazine, dividing his time between Time and Life for the next two years. By the time he left Time Inc. in 1990, his photographs had graced over 200 covers of Sports Illustrated, Time, and People, a record-breaking feat for a single photographer. This remarkable achievement earned him the prestigious Lucie Award for Achievement in Sports Photography in 2006.
Leifer's contributions to journalism were further recognized with The Britton Hadden Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, and in 2014, he became the first photographer to be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. Throughout his illustrious career, Leifer has traveled extensively, capturing iconic moments at 16 Olympic Games, 4 FIFA World Cups, 15 Kentucky Derbies, numerous World Series games, the first 12 Super Bowls, and countless boxing title fights.
Leifer's fascination with Muhammad Ali led him to photograph his favorite subject on almost 60 occasions, covering all of Ali's major fights and over 30 one-on-one studio sessions. Today, Leifer has transitioned to filmmaking, producing documentaries that have been featured on HBO, ESPN, and PBS.
