On February 18, 1965, James “Spider” Martin, a 25-year-old staff photographer for The Birmingham News, was assigned to cover the shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson. Jackson, a demonstrator in Marion, Alabama, was killed while protesting for equal voting rights. The pivotal event was a turning point for Martin who overnight, this young photojournalist’s images became front page news.

Martin was stirred by the events talking place in his native Alabama, and he was determined to cover the entire Selma to Montgomery march that has quickly organized with the help of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. Despite protest from his employers, Martin continued to document voting rights events, from Bloody Sunday and Turnaround Tuesday to mass meetings in Selma and the successful march into Montgomery.

Walking from Selma to Montgomery “backward”, Martin was always a step ahead of the demonstrators, capturing their emotions and heroic efforts through the lens of his camera.

All photographs in this exhibition are archival pigment print reproductions of Martin’s original negatives. These images were reprinted by photographer Karen Graffeo in 2023. Martin’s negatives date to 1965 and are held in the collection of The Bri Brisco Center in Austin, Texas.