Tom Self

Tom Self's iconic photograph from the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

Tom Self (born c. 1933; died November 26, 2014) was a long-time photography editor for the Birmingham News. He started out selling photographs to the News and Birmingham Post as a teenager. When he was hired full-time in 1952 he was tutored by Ed Jones and assigned to cover the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. He also documented the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham and was one of the first photojournalists to arrive at 16th Street Baptist Church after the September 15, 1963 bombing.

Self retired in 1998. He died in 2014.

References

• Garrison, Greg (November 26, 2014) "Legendary civil rights photographer Tom Self, former photo editor for The Birmingham News, dies at 81." The Birmingham News