10/07/2026
What does movement look like in a still photograph? 📸
Phillip Leonian spent his whole career answering that.
His tricks:
🔁 Multiple exposures – one athlete, many moments, one frame
🌀 Blur – bodies that melt into waves of motion
🧪 Lab work – he spent more time in the darkroom than behind the camera
Gymnasts. Runners. Speed skaters. Dancers. Even Muhammad Ali 🥊
His style became his signature at Sports Illustrated and in advertising for multiple brands.
And behind every image was Edith Leonian, his wife and partner. She ran his business, supported every experiment, and even picked up the camera to photograph Phil at work 💛
Thank you Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation for sharing Phil's work with us 🤍
How would you capture movement in a still photograph?
