In My Alabama, Dersham presents two hundred images revealing the diversity and bounty of the twenty-second state as it celebrates its two hundredth anniversary of statehood. The book is loosely organized around the four seasons, and its images are mostly landscapes, though the built environment makes appearances — from the busy port of Mobile to rural churches and schools to small-town streetscapes.
No other Alabama picture book ranges across the entire state like this one, and Dersham’s images are a visual feast. Brief captions provide location data and key facts; a few interspersed short essays offer additional background. An index links places and themes, and a photo log reveals how and when specific images were made.

John Alexander Dersham’s photography career began on November 1, 1960, when he took his first pictures with his father’s 1930 Kodak Brownie. From that modest start, his art has continued without pause for fifty-nine years. Meanwhile, Dersham made a career in the photography industry, serving in management at Eastman Kodak and its subsidiaries in multiple states for more than thirty years. His last Kodak job brought him to Alabama, where he fell in love with the state’s natural beauty and varied terrain, as well as its people and places. His body of work in the tourism industry was recognized by his peers when he received the Alabama Travel Council Award of Excellence at the 2018 Alabama Governor’s Conference on Tourism. He and his wife, Kyle, live on Lookout Mountain near Fort Payne in northeast Alabama. They have two children and two grandchildren.