Neil Leifer is an American photographer born in 1942, during his career Neil Leifer has traveled the world, photographing famous people and events – many of those photographs have graced the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time magazine. Leifer started out by helping the disabled at Yankee stadium who would then rise to become a world renowned sports photographer.
Leifer was always modest to what luck could bring; saying all good photographers have to have it, and he uses his famous Muhammad Ali versus Sonny Liston boxing picture as an example. The image shows a victorious Ali pumping a gloved fist to his chest as he fiercely stands over a stunned Sonny Liston.
So what makes a good sports photographer? Leifer states, "when you’re in the right seat at the right place at the right time the really good photographer doesn’t miss, I guess if you want to summarize why I’ve been successful – I haven’t missed a lot when I’ve been lucky."
