Our first Wish ATL Black History Month tribute of 2026 goes to none other than Jim Alexander. Jim Alexander is an American documentary photographer, photojournalist, activist, and teacher who calls Atlanta home.
In 1952, Alexander joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17. After a long grueling day in Naval boot camp, a dice game would change his life forever. Instead of the $10 he was owed from gambling, a couple weeks later he was offered a Kodak camera to cover the debt. After a quick tutorial , Alexander loaded his first roll of film and sold the photographs to other sailors and friends for fifty cents each. This was the beginning of a remarkable career.
During the height of the human rights movement, Alexander began documenting the anti-war and civil rights movement, and later the local and national responses to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. His photographs include: marches, rallies, conferences, festivals, concerts, and Black life as a whole. Some notable subjects are: Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis, Jr., Maynard Jackson, Usher, Ludacris, The King Family, Run DMC, Michael Jackson and several others.
He later used his G.I. Bill money to attend NY Institute of Photography (NYIP) and earned a degree in commercial photography in 1968. He went on to teach at Yale, Clark, and Emory. This year marks 50 years since he moved to Atlanta. Jim, we salute and thank you for all you've done.
SOS: Signs Of Struggle by Jim Alexander, an exhibition currently at the APEX Museum was curated as both a reflective piece and a call to action. Spanning more than 60 years, the exhibition documents nonviolent protests for human rights and social justice in the aftermath of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. The exhibition is on display until March 7, 2026.