“The drivers and participants who worked with Jesse during his decade on the European circuits knew him not simply as a highly regarded motor racing photographer, but also as a real enthusiast and a gentleman. He understood motor racing and shared our passion for it. This, as much as his talent, made him ‘one of us’.”
Stirling Mosss


Alexander’s involvement in motor sports began in the early 1950s with the birth of the sports car movement in the USA. His first sports car was an MGTD, then a Morgan Plus Four and then a Sunbeam Talbot. As racing became popular he visited tracks like Pebble Beach and Palm Springs to photograph these early races. One of his first memories was seeing the famous film star, Clark Gable making a lap of honour at Palm Springs in his Jaguar XK120.

He explored the Continent in the 1950’s, and found himself at Reims on the 4th July, 1954 shooting the French Grand Prix. He witnessed the debut of the fabulous Mercedes W196. In the hands of Juan Fangio, Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann these new racecars brought the Germans back to Grand Prix racing.