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	Friends for over 40 years, Bingham has taken over a million photographs of Muhammad Ali.

He's taken more than a million photographs of the man who's known around the world as the "Greatest of All Time". And every image marks a special moment in the remarkable 40-plus year friendship between Howard Bingham and Muhammad Ali.

They became pals almost by accident when Bingham was a struggling young newspaper photographer and Ali was still Cassius Clay. Bingham was assigned to cover a news conference for an upcoming boxing match in Los Angeles---that's where he first encountered the fighter. But a chance meeting on the streets of downtown LA later that same day was when the two truly met.

"I was driving down Broadway in Los Angeles and I saw him and his brother on the corner of Fifth and Broadway, just standing at a bus stop", Bingham says. "I hollered out, 'Hey, you need a ride'?

“Ali is a special individual... but it was a great fortune for him to meet ME” Howard Bingham

That's how the friendship started, with an impromptu tour of LA in Howard's car. From that moment on, Bingham had a ringside seat to history as the young Cassius Clay transformed into Muhammad Ali and soared far beyond the world of sports to become a true cultural icon.

"Ali is a special individual," Bingham says. "But it was a great fortune for him to meet ME," Howard adds with a hearty laugh that fills the room.

Today, Bingham is one of America's most highly regarded photographers with a body of work that's appeared in scores of newspapers and national magazines, including Time, Sports Illustrated, Life, Newsweek and Ebony. In addition, Howard's stunning photographs have won notice in the California arts community. UCLA showcased his collection of Ali images at a special exhibit. And his early photos of the Black Panthers are on permanent display at a community center in Watts.

Another professional milestone came with the 2004 publication of "GOAT", a monumental book of Ali's life story told in three-thousand stunning pictures. The title-"GOAT"-is short for "greatest of all time", Muhammad's nickname.

	Bingham is one of two primary photographers in the TASCHEN book, "GOAT" (short for 'greatest of all time' – Ali's nickname). At over 75 lbs. and costing more than $7500, we just might believe it!

In sheer size and weight, it's the greatest coffee table book of all time---75 pounds of museum quality images, bound in premium leather by the same bookbinder that produces volumes for the Vatican. Each book sells for a whopping $7,500. And between the covers are scores of Howard Bingham's legendary photos of Muhammad Ali, spanning four decades. Bingham is one of two primary photographers chosen by the publisher, Tachen.

Looking at his work and listening to his stories, there's no sign of Bingham's rocky first steps into photography. He flunked his one and only photo class at a community college in Compton. But Howard soon became a master behind the lens in the school of hard knocks. He learned his craft by doing it, starting with a low-paying job at an African American weekly newspaper in south Los Angeles. Besides tenacity, the best thing Howard had going for him was good timing.

In the mid-Sixties, Los Angeles was still reeling from the aftermath of the Watts riots. In the very different reality of that day, major news magazines such as Life had almost no African American journalists on staff. Bingham got their attention---and soon he was covering racial unrest across America, recording yet another remarkable chapter of the nation's history with his camera.

Among the many legends and celebrities he's photographed, one of Howard's favorites is Bill Clinton. In 2002, he captured an emotion-filled image of Clinton embracing Muhammad Ali moments after Ali lit the torch at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

In good times and in bad, Bingham has been at Muhammad's side. Parkinson's may have robbed Ali of his once-rapid fire rhetoric, but his mind remains razor sharp. Today, the two old friends still enjoy each other's company and can spend hours reflecting on what's truly been an excellent adventure.

All in all, it's been a wonderful life for a poor kid from South LA who used to worry that he might never find his place in the world. But as he turned 65 in May 2004, Howard made it clear he hopes even better years are still ahead of him.

"Knock wood, I've been a blessed human being," Bingham says. "I'm still going – and will keep on going."

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