Hero:(PERSON) (plural heroes)
:a man in mythology and legend celebrated for his strength and bold exploits/ a man noted for his special achievements

Almost 50 years ago, a young photographer from Minnesota produced one of the most memorable sporting images in American history. It was through Flip Schulke’s inimitable underwater photographs that a young Muhammad Ali was first featured in LIFE magazine. Schulke also went on to produce equally seminal pictures of another 20th Century icon - Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights Movement, opening the eyes of many American magazine readers to the state of their nation. We are proud to resent the first solo exhibition of work by Flip Schulke in the UK.

“The 1960s were kind of a golden age for photojournalism. It was an exciting time in history. Some people say that the 60’s destroyed America. But the 60’s were what made America” Flip Schulke

When Schulke met Martin Luther King Jr in 1958, whilst on an assignment in Miami, King was already a major figure in the growing civil rights movement. Their relationship developed into a trusting friendship which gained Schulke unrivalled and intimate access to some of the most dramatic and powerful events in this period of America’s history, including King’s I have a dream speech in Washington DC in 1963. The professional and personal relationship between King and Schulke lasted ten years until King’s ssassination in 1968. Testament to this is that Schulke was the only photographer allowed in King’s funeral. His dedication and passion for documenting social change was
instrumental in building King’s profile and influencing how the civil rights movement was viewed throughout America and history.

Within three years of meeting King, Schulke was assigned a story to photograph a young promising boxer who had just won gold at the Olympic games. His first photographs of Cassius Clay in his gym captured the confidence and charisma of this young man who would become Muhammad Ali, one of the most recognised faces in the world. Clay was desperate to be featured in LIFE magazine and after viewing some of Schulke’s underwater photography concocted the story that he trained underwater, fooling both Schulke and the editors at LIFE magazine. Schulke’s unforgettable images of Ali “training” underwater were run by LIFE magazine who would not have run the story without these iconic and inventive pictures.

Born in Minnesota in 1930, Flip Schulke has supported himself since the age of 15 by taking photographs. After studying at Macalester College in St. Paul, Schulke moved to Miami in the 1950s, and covered subjects as diverse as the first men on the moon, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the last week of John F Kennedy and developed his specialty of underwater photography. He has received many awards including first-prize honours for Picture of the Year, the first annual New York State Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Crystal Eagle Award from the National Press Photographers Association for his lifelong documentation of the civil-rights movement.

This is the first exhibition of the work of Flip Schulke in the UK.