Personal Background
Neil Leifer grew up near Manhattan in New York. Leifer is 79 years old, he has been a photographer for at least 60 years. Leifer won the Lucie Award in sports photography. He takes mostly photos of sports. He has appeared on over 200 magazine covers the list including, Time, Sports Illustrated and People. He started his digital photography career when he was 13. He grew up a die hard Dodgers fan which led him into the sports photography world.
Style
Neil Leifer is a sports photographer, his photos are in color and sometimes black and white depending on what he wants the viewer to feel. His photos contain moments or achievements like when he took a photo of Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston. He uses many different angles and perspectives to give a different view nobody has seen before. He took photos close up to the person or took them farther back. Most of the photos have a blurred background if it does not fit the moment and he keeps the crowd in the photos so the viewer can have a better sense of the moment.
Philosophy
Leifer would take his photos of things that looked important or a game winning play. Leifer would take his two interests and combine them to make an artful piece for the viewer. His major idea was showing the moment and he makes the viewer able to visualize it. There are no political ideas from them. The photos are a way of showing his work and a way to sell it to make a living off of it. He grew up in a poor neighborhood in New York where he had a rental camera which he started his career there, which is the reason he started to take the photos. Many of his photos were on the cover of the many different magazines which helps tell the story of what really happened in the photo.
Influences
When I grow up I want to become a sports photographer which his work helped influence how I want to take my photos. Looking at his photos I want to be able to capture a moment that would stand out to people. His work showed me the different ways a photographer can use the angles to show a different image. Leifer was a sports fan growing up, he was a big Dodgers fan. Lefier would attend a settlement house and they had a camera club which then he started to take photos at the age of 13. That camera club was the sole reason for him getting into photography and his passion for sports led him to sports photography.
Jackie Robinson at Camera Day (Leifer)
I think that these photos are close but I should have backed up more. This photo was really hard to get down because his photos where truely one of a kind I would retake the photo from farther back and get better props. I would get the props that are for baseball and like the ones in the image.
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Baseball Player Wannabe
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Terry Bradshaw About to Pass (Leifer)
I think I should probaly redo this, but I did not have enough time so it looks not the best. I had the right Idea so it works but I could not find any props other than the football. I had to switch the person because my other friend was not responding to me. So I learned that this was hard to do and these are really good photos and should let the professionals do it.
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A Baller
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Artist Statement: I really enjoyed taking these photos. They where challenging to recreate but thats why photos are so important because it hard to take a picture of the same moment. I chose these photos because they where going to be the easiest to recreate. The photos are unique to the sports as Bradshaw is a QB and is passing. I chose the baseball players as they where famous and they filled the photo nicely. I chose these sports as they are sports I have played in the past and the baseball one makes me want to play again.
Sources:
https://neilleifer.com/
http://www.thepostgame.com/interviews/201112/neil-leifer-sports-photographer-interview-sports-illustrated-ali-liston-giants-col
https://vault.si.com/vault/2006/11/06/every-picture-tells-a-story
Images:
Jackie Robinson on Camera Day
https://neilleifer.com/products/jackie-robinson-at-camera-day-1956
Hank Aaron at Bat
https://neilleifer.com/products/hank-aaron-at-bat
Terry Bradshaw About to Pass
https://neilleifer.com/products/terry-bradshaw-about-to-pass
https://neilleifer.com/
http://www.thepostgame.com/interviews/201112/neil-leifer-sports-photographer-interview-sports-illustrated-ali-liston-giants-col
https://vault.si.com/vault/2006/11/06/every-picture-tells-a-story
Images:
Jackie Robinson on Camera Day
https://neilleifer.com/products/jackie-robinson-at-camera-day-1956
Hank Aaron at Bat
https://neilleifer.com/products/hank-aaron-at-bat
Terry Bradshaw About to Pass
https://neilleifer.com/products/terry-bradshaw-about-to-pass