Howard Bingham
Born1939
Jackson, Mississippi
OccupationPhotographer

Howard Bingham is an American photographer, most notably known for chronicling the career of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Biography & Career

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Bingham was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1939, soon moving to Los Angeles with his parents at the age of four. Bingham attended Compton Junior College, initially failing a photography course[1][2][3].

Bingham left school, and apprenticed as a photojournalist for the Los Angeles Sentinel. During this apprenticeship Bingham honed his craft, stating "I went off on jobs, came back with underexposed film, blurred film, no film--and I always had an excuse for what went wrong,".[2] But, Bingham was eventually hired for the Sentinel, mainly photographing the life of black Los Angeles[4].

In 1962 Bingham met Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) after covering one of Clay's promotional events[5][3][6]

Bingham's work has appeared in Time, Sports Illustrated, LIFE, Ebony- among others[3][5].

In 1968 Bingham was sent on assignment by LIFE to tell the story of the Black Panther party, where he was allowed intimate and unprecedented access. [7]

After meeting Bill Cosby on the set of I Spy in 1970 through Cassius Clay, Bingham was introduced to the world of film, and was the first black man to work on a Hollywood Camera Guild crew[8] [9]. Since then, Bingham has appeared in over 30 individual movie credits, mostly in the Camera and Electrical Department, including 2 credits as a producer, and one credit as an actor (playing himself in Ali documentary The Greatest)[10] .

Described as the "Forrest Gump of photojournalism" because of his frequent "popping up" at the right moments in history, Bingham has photographed the likes of Little Richard, Nelson Mandela, Bill Cosby, President Gerald Ford, and Malcolm X[3][1][11]. Along with photographing a multitude of public figures, Bingham has traveled across the globe on diplomatic, and humanitarian visits to Bangladesh, Pakistan, and various African countries, among others [1][12].

Awards

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In 1997 Bingham was awarded the International award by the American Society of Photographers for his "special and significant contributions to the ideals of Professional Photography as an art and science"[13]

A year later, in 1998, Bingham was named Photographer of the Year by the Photo Marketing Distributors Association[9]

In 2006 Bingham was awarded the Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award by the Gordon Parks Center for Culture and Diversity for his exemplification of "the spirit, strength, and character of Gordon Parks... because his choice of weapon to fight poverty, racism, and violence was his camera"[14] [15].

Books & Exhibitions

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Bingham was selected as a photographer for the 1990 project Songs of My People

Howard Bingham authored Muhammad Ali: A Thirty Year Journey, released in 1993[16]

Howard L. Bingham's Black Panthers 1968 was published in 2001 [17]

In 2012, Bingham released his book Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight Cassius Clay vs. the United States of America[18]

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THE ALI CENTER. HOWARD BINGHAM'S OFFICIAL SITE

References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Lucie Awards | Howard Bingham". www.lucies.org. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  2. ^ a b BATES, KAREN GRIGSBY (1994-05-22). "The Sunday Profile : The View Finder : He has seen things and gone places no other photographers dared. But Howard Bingham's best shots hit very close to home". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
  3. ^ a b c d "Howard Bingham: Photographing Ali And America". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  4. ^ "Legends: Howard Bingham Profile". pdngallery.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  5. ^ a b "Howard Bingham - Biography". rogallery.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  6. ^ "Howard Bingham | Biography". GALLERY M. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  7. ^ "California African American Museum - Past Exhibitions - A Moment in Time: Bingham's Black Panthers". www.caamuseum.org. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
  8. ^ "KODAK: LIVE Events Howard L. Bingham - Professional Photographer". www.kodak.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 39 (help)
  9. ^ a b "The Fort Scott Tribune - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  10. ^ "Howard Bingham". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  11. ^ "KODAK: LIVE Events Howard L. Bingham - Professional Photographer". www.kodak.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 39 (help)
  12. ^ Hauser, Thomas (2012-07-30). Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times. Anova Books. ISBN 9781907554902.
  13. ^ "ASP International Award | American Society of Photographers". asofp.com. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  14. ^ "Oestervang Wins 2006 Gordon Parks Photography Competition | NPPA". nppa.org. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  15. ^ "The Power of the Image". Nevada Daily Mail. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  16. ^ Bingham, Howard L. (1993-10-07). Muhammad Ali: A Thirty Year Journey (1st edition ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780671760786. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  17. ^ Bingham, Howard (2010-11-01). Crist, Steve (ed.). Howard L. Bingham's Black Panthers 1968 (Popular Edition edition ed.). AMMO Books. ISBN 9781934429662. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  18. ^ Bingham, Howard L.; Wallace, Max; Ali, Muhammad (2012-12-16). Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight: Cassius Clay vs. the United States of America (Reprint edition ed.). Landham, Md.: M. Evans & Company. ISBN 9781590772089. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

Category:Living people Category:American photographers Category:American photojournalists