Jimmy Carter, an Augusta photographer as well-known for helping others as he was for wearing his signature overalls and bandana, died Friday night of a massive heart attack, friends and family said. He was 60.

Mr. Carter, often considered the personal photographer of the late entertainer James Brown, developed friendships throughout the community over the past three decades and was often seen photographing events and sports activities at Paine College and Augusta State University.

"He had a way of making people smile when they didn't want to smile," said Korey London, the assistant director of public relations at Paine College.

Mr. London, whom Mr. Carter once mentored, said the older man possessed the gift of drawing out a person's best features.

Mr. Carter learned the business from an uncle who owned a photography studio. He went on to work for several local newspapers, including The Augusta Focus and the City Tribune.

A Vietnam Army veteran, Mr. Carter walked with a limp but didn't let it slow him down.

He had the phrase "indestructible barbarian" put on his business cards because he had overcome much adversity in his life, said Dot Ealy, a family friend and former co-worker.

"(His disability) didn't hold him back," she said. "He would be photographing a wedding on crutches."

Mr. Carter was found in his Broad Street office at about 6 p.m. Friday by his landlord, Kerry McCollum.

He died en route to Augusta Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, where he had been treated about a month earlier for shortness of breath, said the Rev. Richard White, his brother-in-law and minister of a church in Jonesboro, Ga.

He is survived by his 61-year-old wife, Jean.

The family has not made a final decision about funeral arrangements or a burial, the Rev. White said.

Dent's Undertaking Establishment is handling the arrangements.

Reach Justin Boron at (706) 823-3215 or justin.boron@augustachronicle.com.