Known for capturing colorful Coast scenes, photographer Alex North dies
Glorious sunrises, flashes of lighting, a pelican’s wing skimming the water.
Those carefully-crafted photos in every Heaven’s Gate calendar are how South Mississippi will remember the talents of Coast photographer Alex North.
The last of his almost daily posts of photos on Facebook was Feb. 16, when he presented a picture of the Lighthouse Pier in Biloxi with puffy clouds in the distance.
Several weeks ago he contracted a virus and, thinking it was just a cold, he and his wife Leslie went on a trip to the Holy Lands, said Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes where they renewed their vows. By the time they returned, North was in great pain and the virus attacked his heart.
An emergency prayer request was posted on Facebook Friday night by Deacon Karl Koberger, who said North was in the hospital.
On Saturday morning, the Coast learned the Gulfport photographer had died at age 57.
A visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday, with Rosary beginning at 7:30, at Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15452 O’Neal Road, Gulfport. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 2414 17th St., Gulfport.
The reaction to his passing was swift and heartfelt as South Mississippi grieved the man and praised his work.
“The Coast has lost a precious, incredibly talented ambassador. I’m just speechless,” posted state Sen. Scott DeLano.
“Whether it was a sunrise, sunset or a Fourth of July at Jones Park, our paths often crossed,” said fellow photographer and author Tim Isbell. “The two of us talked about many things as we waited to capture that image. I respected Alex as a photographer and counted him as a friend.”
Hewes said he’s known North since high school.
“I lost a brother. We were that close,” Hewes said. He was humble, so considerate of others and had a sense of humor, Hews said.
“While it is hard to accept that he is gone, we can’t fathom how mundane our world might be had he not been in it,” North’s family said in a statement Saturday.
He is survived by his wife Leslie, son Jacob (Laken) and daughter Sarah.
Others thanked North for sharing the beauty of the Coast with the world and for being a mentor and teaching photography. It was something North took up less than a decade ago in 2011, when he decided to snap his son’s graduation photos.
That didn’t turn out well, he said, but he pushed on.
”I don’t go halfway into anything,” he said, and he learned as much as he could about photography, which grew into what he called “a hobby on steroids.” He joked on his website that his wife, Leslie, claimed he had a girlfriend “Nikky,” since he spent so much time with his Nikon camera.
Hewes said he had dabbled in photography for years when North decided he’d give it a try. Within a month North had surpassed his skills, the mayor said. Whether it was cooking, gardening or photography, “He became a master at everything he took on,” Hewes said.
“As a photographer my main subject matter is our God-given natural surroundings and the wildlife, which call it home,” North said in 2015, when he introduced his book “Mississippi Coast Blessings.”
What was most incredible about North’s talent was he was colorblind.
He told the Sun Herald in a 2015 interview, “I see color. Just not what you see.”
He turned the challenge into an opportunity.
“I’m pretty scientific about my approach to photography,” he said, showing up at just the right time for a foggy sunrise or a full moon casting a glowing path in the water, and already knowing what he wanted to photograph.
He asked his 60,000 Facebook followers to help choose the photographs he would use in his calendar, giving choices that made it difficult to pick. The 2020 calendar was his seventh version.
“He showed us how beautiful our community truly is,” Hewes said.
“Whether it be a smile, bloom, sunrise, bird or even a tear I want you to feel the emotion I felt when taking the photo,” North said on his website. “The scenes I shoot are not mine. I am simply blessed to share these with you through the talent bestowed and the beauty provided.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Morning Star Pregnancy Center, 2204 24th Ave., Gulfport, MS 39501.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 1:22 PM.
