Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)
Muhammad Ali's 'Selfie' and other Stereo View Slides, Camera and Flash,
A box of 8 stereo view color transparency slides, including a 'selfie' taken by Mohammad Ali, along with a Stereo Realist camera and flash.
Each slide overall: 1 5/8 x 4 in. (4.1 x 10.2 cm.)
Camera and flash: approx. 8 x 6 1/2 x 2 in. (20.3 x 16.5 x 5.1 cm.)

Footnotes:
Provenance
Estate of Ira Gelber
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Note
These color transparency slides were taken at the 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, Florida in 1971 while Muhammad Ali was training for his first fight against Joe Frazier, billed as 'The Fight of the Century.' Photographer Ira Gelber was at the gym to take pictures of the boxer. Ali was intrigued by the unusual camera and turned it on himself, taking a selfie that is now preserved on one of the slides.

Each stereo slide features 2 nearly identical images; when seen through a stereo viewer, the image appears three-dimensional.

This lot consists of a box of 8 color transparency stereo view slides, a Stereo Realist Camera, and a Stereo Realist flash. They are all in generally good condition. The slides are housed within their original cardboard box, which is inscribed in ink and pencil in unidentified hands: 'Singles'; 'Cassius Clay / 5th St. Gym / before Frazier fight'; and 'mounted not.' The box is worn and soiled.

It is unknown if the camera and flash are in working condition. The camera is held within a leather holder with attached shoulder stramp. Adhered to the leather is a printed address label that reads: 'Ira Gelber / 18910 NE 20th Av / N Miami Beach FL 33179' and telephone number '305-932-8398' written in ink. Another label is also adhered to the leather case, with typed text that is partially illegible and reiterates the same information on the printed address label. This typed label is quite worn, faded, and stained.