John Alexander first went to the whaling in 1954. First working ‘from the island’ being stationed at Leith Harbour and later from the Factory Ships. From the beginning of his time in South Georgia he was taking Kodachrome images to show family and friends at home. Wishing to share with them some of the incredible things he saw while away. Now these important images have also helped to illustrate, not only his, but his fellow whalers’ story at South Georgia.
While working on factory ships Alexander spent time on both Southern Harvester and Southern Venturer. He recalls these feeling much more cramped than working at Leith Harbour, since they could not only house and accommodate hundreds of workers but process whales on board. Many of the men knew that ‘the writing was on the wall’ for the whaling industry when poor catches were being recorded in the early 1960s. Alexander noted this was especially true of his second season on Southern Venturer.
Following his whaling career Alexander went on to receive a British Empire Medal for his work with BP, who he remained working with until he retired. He has also shown exhibitions of his photographs from South Georgia and continues to support South Georgia Heritage Trust where possible with his photographic collection.