In 1960, Thomas Hoepker photographed a young Muhammad Ali —or Cassius Clay as he was then known — when he won a gold medal at the Rome Olympics. So began a series of opportunities for Hoepker to photograph Ali over the years, producing some of the most iconic images of one of the world’s most iconic athletes. In 1966, when Hoepker was a young staff photographer at STERN magazine, he was asked to cover the fight between Muhammad Ali and the British heavyweight champion, Brian London. “We followed Muhammad to the gym, and just stayed close,” says Hoepker. 

Following London, Hoepker convinced his editors to allow him to travel to Chicago to photograph Ali on his home turf where Hoepker recalls that “...blending into the woodwork and observing the Champ was always fascinating. Ali could be widely alert, sharp and observant, he loved to saunter down the streets, to banter with real people. He melted away when he saw children. They adored him, he hugged them, he did some shadow-boxing and then he took sudden naps in the back seat of his chauffeured Lincoln sedan.”

In 1970, after several years of forced absence from the ring due to his refusal to be drafted, Hoepker reunited with Ali as he restarted his career and prepared for the “Fight of the Century’ against Joe Frazier. This exhibition brings together a selection of Thomas Hoepker’s historic images that capture the enduring legacy of both the man and the myth that is Muhammad Ali.