New Arrivals: Flip Schulke's "Ali Underwater" 🥊
One of the most #iconic images in #sports history is, amusingly, taken inside of a #pool in #SouthFlorida. In 1961, #FlipSchulke captured an up-and-coming black #boxer submerged in one of the few desegregated pools in #America at a hotel in Overtown, a historically black neighborhood in downtown #Miami. Holding an iconic fighting stance underwater in a swimming pool, wearing his legendary #Everlast#boxing trunks, then upcoming boxer #CassiusClay became immortalized. #Jabbing underwater, to then position himself with the ultimate boxer's pose, he helped create an image that influenced the rest of his career and, fundamentally, the world of sports.
Yet, the idea for the striking picture wasn't the #photographer's alone. #CassiusMarcellusClay, who later changed his name to #MuhammadAli in honor of his faith, had met the photographer Schulke the day prior. #SportsIllustrated sent Flip Schulke to capture the young boxer who had, the year prior, taken Gold at the 1960 #Olympic games.
While meeting with the photographer, Ali recognized Schulke's affinity for shooting #underwater. The photographer recalled an article about water skiers he had recently published. Then, a day later, when meeting for the shoot, Ali was already in the pool. Perhaps, considering a cinematic moment, the nineteen-year-old boxer, charismatic and media-savvy since his earliest years, trained inside the water, telling the photographer of his "usual" underwater shadow boxing routine.[..]
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Flip Schulke
Muhammad Ali Boxing Underwater
1961, printed later
Silver Gelatin Photograph
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