About this item
In this previously unpublished photo-essay, the legendary boxer Muhammed Ali is captured up close and unguarded in the run-up to the "Rumble in the Jungle"In October 1974, Muhammad Ali attempted to regain the world heavyweight boxing championship title that was stripped from him when he refused the Vietnam draft seven years earlier. He faced the brutal, undefeated George Foreman in Zaire, Africa, the fight he had dubbed "The Rumble in The Jungle." Only weeks before, on August 11-12, photographer Peter Angelo Simon was invited to experience the private world of one of the most famous people on the planet as he prepared mentally and physically for the biggest challenge of his life.This two-day photo-essay includes many previously unpublished photographs and captures Ali the man, unguarded, away from the glare of the media spotlight at his Pennsylvania sanctuary.
About the Author
Peter Angelo Simon has explored many forms of photographic expression in his wide-ranging career. His work has been featured in books, advertising campaigns, corporate communication, and magazines worldwide, including the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine. His photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. Simon has a deep interest in capturing the working processes of creative people. This comes across powerfully in his studies of theater director Robert Wilson, painter George Deem, the founders of New York's Big Apple Circus and, of course, Muhammad Ali. Simon co-produced the D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus documentary film, Bessie: A Portrait of Bessie Schonberg. Simon pioneered innovative photo illustration. His images often convey the feeling of embarking on a story or inner journey.
Peter Angelo Simon's work has been widely recognised, formally with him receiving Clio and the Andy awards (advertising) , and by The Art Director's Club of New York, Art Direction Magazine, Communication Arts, and the Eastman Kodak Epcot Center Professional Photographer's Awards.
Books include Taschen's GOAT (2004, about Muhammad Ali) , Big Apple Circus (1978, Penguin) , and Muhammad Ali: Fighter's Heaven 1974 (2016) .
