Muhammad Ali: Portraits of a master

From August 15 to October 10, 2015, the Camera Work gallery in Berlin exhibited some of the most arresting images of a man who deserved the title superhero. This picture of Muhammad Ali was taken in Chicago in 1966 by German Thomas Hoepker, one of Ali's favorite photographers.

Carl Fischer created this image of Ali in 1967 for the cover of "Esquire" magazine. It's based on the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian motif from Italian renaissance painting. In 1967, with the Vietnam war raging, Ali refused to be drafted into the US Army, saying "No Viet Cong ever called me nigger." For that, he was chastised by parts of mainstream white America.

In 1964, Harry Benson photographed Cassius Clay, as Ali was still known, meeting The Beatles in Miami. Even early on it was clear that the boxer's stardom would transcend sports. Ali arguably became boxing's first pop icon. Here he is taking out all of the Fab Four with one playful blow.

This is arguably the most famous image of Ali ever taken in the ring, showing him just after knocking out Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine in 1965 in the second bout between the two fighters. Neil Leifer was the photographer in the right place at the right time, and captured Ali's ferocious side.

Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali upon coverting to Islam in 1965. In the late 1960s, he was associated with civil rights leaders such as Malcolm X and was always very public about his faith. Thomas Hoepker took this picture of Ali praying in the ring in London in 1966.

Ali never missed an opportunity to play to a crowd, and even his training sessions were public events attracting adoring spectators. Peter Angelo Simon snapped this image of Ali skipping rope in 1974. That year, Ali defeated George Foreman to regain the heavyweight title in one of the greatest fights ever, known as "the Rumble in the Jungle."

After "greatest," one of Ali's favorite adjectives to describe himself was"pretty." He never tired of pointing out that his face did not bear the signs of damage that those of lesser boxers did. Much of his vanity was play-acted, but his appearance was undeniably important to Ali. Thomas Hoepker took this shot of him in a Chicago barber shop.

Especially early in his career, Ali made things look easy in the ring, but his remarkable skills were the result of long hours put in at the gym. This Image, shot by Thomas Hoepker in Chicago in 1966, not only conveys some of the history of the sport but also suggest the solitary hours Ali put in to become the best in his game.

The exhibition "Muhammad Ali" made clear that the boxer was very much in control during photo shoots, and realized how photography could augment his fame. Photographers said working with Ali was incredibly easy because he understood the medium so well. The subject of this Thomas Hoepker image is not just Ali, but Ali and photography.