Chris Smith’s Ali photographs extend beyond training and fight night. Street scenes, encounters with fans and autograph requests show how the boxer occupied public space, with people gathering around him wherever he went.
Miami: the crowd becomes part of the picture
In the Miami sequence reproduced in The Greatest, Ali appears among shopfronts and onlookers. Smith’s accompanying recollections describe a visit to Overtown with actor Burt Lancaster. The photographs invite attention not just to Ali, but to the people watching and responding around him.
View Miami: Ali Squaring Up, With Burt Lancaster and Ali Talks to Fans. Each print page is the place to check the particular image and available format.
New York: a different setting
New York’s streets give the series another visual rhythm. Buildings, passing faces and the space around Ali place a familiar sporting figure in everyday surroundings. Explore Hello New York and Autograph Hunters alongside the gym photographs to see that contrast.
Reading photographs carefully
A gesture in a still photograph does not establish a person’s thoughts or reproduce a conversation. Where we refer to a recollection, it is important to distinguish that account from what the image itself shows. The value of these scenes is their detail, not an invented dialogue.
For the training side of the collection, explore Chris Smith’s photographs at the 5th Street Gym. For the publication, read The Greatest: the book and its contributors.
Explore the prints
Browse the Muhammad Ali print collection. Muhammad Ali limited editions start from £2,200. Use the enquiry form on an individual print page to confirm availability, edition, signature details, sizes, framing and delivery. A photographer’s signature is not an autograph by the subject.
Reference: The Greatest (GOST Books, 2024), photographs and short texts by Chris Smith, with essays by Alon Zakaim and Paolo Hewitt. This article is original editorial writing, not an extract from the book.