James Karales

Who was James Karales?

James H. Karales was a photographer and photo-essayist best known for his work with Look magazine from 1960 to 1971. At Look he covered the Civil Rights Movement throughout its duration, taking many of the movements memorable photographs, including those of the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his family. Karales' best known single-image is the iconic photograph of the Selma to Montgomery march showing people proudly marching along the highway under a cloudy turbulent sky.

Karales also covered and photographed the war in Vietnam for Look, and earlier had worked for two years with photo-essay photographer W. Eugene Smith. He produced his own photo essays, including works showing what life was like for the working citizens of Rendville, Ohio and, before he met Smith, a photo-essay on the Greek-American community in his hometown of Canton, Ohio.

In 2013, a book of Karales' photographs, CONTROVERSY AND HOPE: The Civil Rights Movement Photographs of James Karales, was published by the University of South Carolina Press.