Captured terrorism image at Games
RUSSELL McPhedran was an awardwinning photographer who captured the image of a hooded Palestinian terrorist at the Munich Olympics.
His balcony photo of a hooded terrorist at the 1972 Olympics became an enduring image of the 20th century.
McPhedran, who died recently aged 82, was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame last November, recognising his career which began as a copy boy on The Sun in Sydney and ended in 2003 when he retired as photo editor of the Sydney bureau of the Associated Press.
‘‘Few photographers take a picture powerful enough to enter the permanent consciousness of a nation, let alone become instantly recognisable around the world,’’ friend and former colleague Michael Bowers said in a tribute for McPhedran’s Hall of Fame induction.
‘‘Russell McPhedran, or Russ as his mates call him, has a clutch of them.’’
The Glasgowborn McPhedran arrived in Sydney in 1950 and got his start on The Sun. He also spent four years on Fleet Street in London, during which time his subjects included The Beatles and Ronnie Biggs, better known as the Great Train Robber.
But his most famous photo was taken on a scheduled rest day at the track and field at the Munich Olympics.
McPhedran, working for the Sydney Morning Herald, was tipped off that something was happening at the athletes’ village.
On September 5, 1972, members of the Palestinian ‘‘Black September’’ group attacked Israelis at the Munich Games, killing an athlete and a coach and taking nine others hostage. The hostages died later during a botched rescue attempt at a military airfield outside Munich. In all, 11 Israelis were killed in the siege that shocked the world and ushered in a new era of global terrorism. McPhedran’s photo appeared in the Herald and a nearidentical image was published by AP.
He covered seven more Olympic Games, including some for Australian Associated Press. His last was in Sydney in 2000 for AP.
‘‘The adrenaline rush you get when you have taken what you know is a great picture is fantastic; you know you have done it,’’ McPhedran told Bowers.
In other adventures, McPhedran scored himself an invitation to a party hosted by Biggs in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate 20 years on the run. While working for the Daily Express in Britain, McPhedran had documented Biggs’ initial robbery when he and a group of 14 others attacked the GlasgowtoLondon mail train, stealing £2.6 million. — AAP