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kodak.com
presents
Howard L. Bingham
Professional Photographer
December 21, 2000
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Jess:
Howard, these Mound Bayou photos are incredibly powerful. Have you been back since 1968?
Howard Bingham:
I have not been back, and I'm very sorry that I haven't. It's kind of hard at times to go back to places, and it's a little out of the way, but I'm going to make a point of going back very soon. In fact, I had an exhibit last year about Mound Bayou for about a month in Santa Ana. Everyone thought it was a really good exhibit. It made me think when I came home. You know how you want a new record or a new pair of shoes? When I came home, I didn't want anything. I just felt fortunate.
I was in Mound Bayou about a month and a half. I was living in Cleveland, Mississippi at a Holiday Inn Junior. It was a college town, and I was a young guy at the time. For a young black guy to go to Mississippi and rent cars and hang out in a hotel for a month was something. The hotel manager wasn't very friendly. He never did say anything to me, but at the end of my stay, he said he was sorry for treating me badly. It was nice.
Marty3:
Hello Howard, what are your favorite photographs you've shot during the years?
Howard Bingham:
All of them! I have a lot of photographs, and a lot of them mean different things to me. I don't have any photos hanging up in my house, and everybody is surprised. But I have lots of favorites. The ones of Mr. Mandela and Ali and Bill Cosby. One of my favorites is the one that was taken half an hour after Ali lit the flame at the Atlanta Olympics. We took one of President Clinton and Ali together. The President had his hands on Ali's shoulders and was looking at him eye to eye. He said he hadn't realized who was lighting the flame, but when he realized it was Ali, he cried.
This photograph was taken in Munich, Germany. Ali was there to fight Richard Dunn, a fighter from England. The fight took place about 4 AM in Munich. This was taken after one of the workouts leading up to the fight. It is so wonderful to see how Ali is loved around the world. It's amazing. I like walking behind Ali. People can't believe their eyes, and some come up and ask him for autographs or to take his picture. People at airports will buy these little Kodak disposable cameras at the gift shops to take Ali's picture. He loves people! We almost miss a lot of planes because of it. He's the best.
This is a fight in Pittsburgh in 1963. The fighter is Charlie Powell, an ex-football player. It looks like Ali won, right? I was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and we left there when I was four years old to move to Los Angeles. My father worked for the railroad, and had heard the saying "Go west, young man" so we went to California. It's pretty warm there, not like it is in Rochester! (Hope I didn't make anybody mad by saying that.) I mention this because I had never been in snow before this photo, and I didn't have a coat or gloves or anything warm to wear. Ali had to buy me stuff to keep warm.
Marty3:
Hello Howard. What makes a great photo, in your opinion?
Howard Bingham:
I think people see different things in different photographs. People could look at the same photograph, and some people might think it's bad, some might think it's good. It's pretty subjective. Some great photos might be a little out of focus and not be technically perfect. You may have a photograph of a loved one that means a lot to you, and you will think it's the best photo in the world. And for you, it is.
Bluefox Comic:
What's your take on digital vs. silver halide photography?
Howard Bingham:
Digital is really getting there. It IS there! But it's going to take a while for a lot of people to come over. People like the old fashioned way. I still do, too. I like to shoot black and white photographs. But times have changed, and this is the new Millennium. Digital has put a lot of people out of business, because the labs aren't needed any more with digital. Digital has made it easy for news media to get photographs around the world instantly. This really hurts film in a way. But so far, there's nothing like a good old Kodachrome print. I still shoot 75 percent film. On my jobs, I would shoot my main shots first on film, and then back them up with digital. It's the new deal now!
The photograph you're seeing now is one I made in 1963 after Ali had invited me to hang out with him for a while. After the Archie Moore fight, when he knew I wouldn't take money from him, he invited me to come and hang out with him. He sent me a ticket, and I got on a plane for the first time and he met me in Miami. About 7 the next morning, Cassius (as he was called then), his brother Rudy, and I got into a Cadillac and a photographer from LIFE magazine followed us from Miami to Louisville, KY. At that time, Ali didn't like planes, so any time he could drive a car or take a train, he would. We drove all the way to Louisville, taking turns driving. These guys followed us all the way too, and this photograph was after we arrived in Louisville. Ali was showing the new Cadillac convertible to his friends. He even had a record player in his car, which was unheard of back then.
Speedbird Concorde:
Ever meet Elvis, Howard?
Howard Bingham:
I had the privilege of meeting Elvis Presley in 1973 in Las Vegas. Elvis was appearing at the Las Vegas Hilton, and Ali was there to fight at the same time. Elvis and Ali were mutual fans, and Elvis had a robe made for Ali that said "People's Choice." It has lots of sequins and things on it. I think I have the only picture of Elvis presenting Ali with that robe.
Anyone know who is in this picture of Ali? I want to make you guess! This photograph was taken in 1973, right before the Ali-Frazier fight. A lot of people think this is a girl, with all the long hair, but it's a guy. It's John John Kennedy! I took another photograph of John Kennedy Jr. with Ali a couple of weeks before he was killed. Ali is presenting him with this photograph that's on the screen now. Ali and I signed it for him, and it was presented to him in his office at George magazine just a couple of weeks before he was killed. As you will see by that photograph, he had his crutches with him because he had just injured his foot. His death was a loss to the whole world.
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