Angus man who took iconic Beatles photograph remembered.

Late photographer was made famous by Abbey Road shot

He was the Dundee photographer who took the iconic image on the cover of one of music’s most famous albums.

Paul Mccartney chose Iain Macmillan’s shot for the Abbey Road cover in 1969 and the street would eventually become as famous as the music itself thanks to his photograph.

Mr Macmillan’s work with John Lennon and Yoko Ono also included working on record sleeves for Live Peace in Toronto, Give Peace a Chance and Happy Xmas (War is Over).

He also shot the album cover for Something’s Burning by Kenny Rogers and took portraits of various celebrities from the world of sport, acting and pop music including Stevie Wonder, Twiggy, Floyd Paterson and Maggie Smith.

Today Mr Macmillan’s life and legacy is being fondly remembered by those who knew him best to mark what would have been his 80th birthday.

Mike Scott, originally from Dundee but now living in Kent, said: “Iain was like a brother to me. He was a reluctant and modest celebrity.

“The legacy is that Abbey Road became an icon but for him it was a £500, 30-minute job at the time.

“In 1979, when I first visited Abbey Road, no one was there and now it’s a major tourist attraction.”

Mr Macmillan left Dundee High in 1954 and his first job was as a trainee manager at a jute mill. The bright lights of London beckoned so he headed south and studied photography at the old Regent Street Polytechnic.

His break-out work were the shots which appeared in The Book of London in 1966 and it was this that brought him to the attention of Yoko Ono.

She commissioned him to photograph one of her exhibitions in St James’s and that’s how he met John Lennon, who asked him to take the album cover pictures for Abbey Road.

He remained friends with John and Yoko and worked with them on numerous projects as the 1970s dawned.

Mr Scott said: “He spent the summer of 1971 in New York working with Yoko, John and their assistant May Pang, which was the happiest time for Iain.”

Mr Macmillan spent his later years in Carnoustie and died of lung cancer in May 2006.

Clockwise from top, left: Lorraine Kelly stops traffic on Abbey Road; a model with the famous album cover at The London Model Engineering Exhibition; Tourism Ireland marks St Patrick’s Day at Abbey Road; four women recreate the album cover at the Hayward Gallery for a Visitbritain tourism campaign. Pictures: Getty Images.

Mr Macmillan and his famous shot.