UIG contributing photographer Jim West has for more than thirty years focused on important editorial subjects such as social issues, human rights, social movements and organizations, worker’s rights and labor unions, and industry. Based in Detroit, Michigan Jim has built an extensive collection covering the American automotive industry, especially from a labor and union perspective.
His focus on social issues includes coverage of protest marches, political rallies, disaster recovery, volunteer organizations and community outreach. Jim’s coverage of human rights includes images from his travels to many of the landmarks in the US Civil Rights era.
A small sample of Jim’s prolific work is attached here but to see more of his extensive editorial coverage please visit the UIG site and Jim’s site at https://jimwestphoto.com/
Warren, Michigan, 6 May 2025, Members of the United Auto Workers who work at Stellantis rally, demanding that the company bring auto jobs back to Michigan. UAW leaders note that Stellantis has substantial excess capacity at its American plants. 
Detroit, Michigan, More than 800 exhibitors displayed at Automate, North America’s largest robotic and automation event. 
Baker, Louisiana, September 14, 2005, Michele Baker outside the shelter near Baton Rouge where she is staying after fleeing Hurricane Katrina. 
Farmington Hills, Michigan USA, 30 May 2025, Many dozens of unsold Tesla electric vehicles, including Cybertrucks, are stored in the parking lot of a closed shopping center in suburban Detroit. Tesla sales have fallen in 2025, at least partly in response to CEO Elon Musk’s political activity in the Trump Administration. 
Orangeville, Michigan, Radishes are harvested on a farm in western Michigan. 
Biloxi, Mississippi, A flag pole just off the beach was bent by the winds of Hurricane Katrina. 
Dundee, Michigan, A house destroyed by a tornado. 
Detroit, Michigan, Residents of Detroit gathered downtown to protest what they said was the Bush Administration’s slow response to the Hurricane Katrina devastation. 
Fraser, Michigan, The collapse of an 11-foot-wide underground sewer line threatens environmental problems for 11 communities in suburban Detroit. The collapse created a sinkhole that destroyed three houses. Officials estimate that repairing the sewer line could cost $100 million. Until the line is fixed, they say it may be necessary to divert raw sewage into the Clinton River. 
Rockport, Texas, Debris from Hurricane Harvey’s destruction dumped in the median strip of state highway 35. 
Mayfield, Kentucky, A food bank operated by St. Joseph Catholic Church helps victims of the December 2021 tornado that devasted towns in western Kentucky. 
Yazoo City, Mississippi, A cotton field, harvested last fall, on a flooded farm in the Mississippi Delta. Heavy spring rainfall has led to widespread flooding of farm land along the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers and prevented the planting of cotton and other crops. 
Baldwin, Louisiana, Volunteers pack school and personal hygiene kits that will be sent to victims of disasters around the world. They are working at the Sager-Brown Depot, operated by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. 
Detroit, Michigan, Gay and lesbian activists march for equality in the Motor City Pride parade. 
Detroit, Michigan USA, 26 January 2022, The Canadian Coast Guard vessel Samuel Risley leads the Algocanada, an oil/chemical tanker, through ice on Lake St. Clair as they enter the Detroit River. Cold weather in the region has created ice jams and caused shipping problems in some locations,. 
Detroit, Michigan, Firefighters battle a blaze at a long-vacant downtown structure. The building once housed the Gold Dollar, a club which gave a start to the White Stripes and other garage rock bands. It is one of dozens of vacant downtown buildings controlled by the Ilitch family, which owns the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, the Fox Theater, Little Caesars Pizza, and Motor City Casino. 
Detroit, Michigan USA, 10 June 2023, An abandoned house burns on the near east side of Detroit, an apparent arson. 
Independence, California, The cemetery at the Manzanar War Relocation Center, one of ten camps where Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II. Manzanar is now a National Historic Site, run by the National Park Service. Though the barracks and other buildings are gone, six of the 150 people who died during the war are still buried in the cemetery. In the background are the Sierra Nevada mountains. The inscription on the obelisk reads: “soul consoling tower.”. 
Detroit, Michigan, 15 June 2020, Gay pride flags fly outside the Renaissance Center on the day that the Supreme Court ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, A shackle on the floor of an early 1800s slave pen at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a museum about the history of slavery and the underground railroad. The building confined slaves until they could be sold further south by Kentucky slave trader Capt. John W. Anderson. 
Memphis, Tennessee, The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. A display commemorates the 1963 March on Washington. 
Harrison Twp, Michigan, Ice coated vegetation on the shore of Lake St Clair after a heavy rainstorm was followed by high winds and plummeting temperatures. 
Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock Central High School, site of an historic school desegregation crisis in 1957. The school, which has more than 2,000 students, is part of the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site; tours are available through the National Park Service. 
Memphis, Tennessee, “I Am A Man Plaza,” next to Clayborn Temple. The church was a rallying point for the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike, during which Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The wall in the back displays the names of the 1,300 strikers.
All images in this post are copyrighted to Jim West. All images featured in this post and on Kaleidoscope are available for licensing. Please contact us at info@universalimagesgroup.com