Vale Russell McPhedran

The legacy of Sydney Morning Herald photographer Russell McPhedran, who died on Monday night aged 82 from a heart condition, is a portfolio of some of the most important news photographs of the 20th century.

He captured one of the defining images of the Munich Olympics in 1972 for the Herald. His shot of a hooded Palestinian terrorist, one of a group that had taken 12 Israelis hostage, is haunting and powerful.

Closer to home, and what he said was his favourite photo, was the collapse of a wall of Buckingham's department store during a fire in Oxford Street on Anzac Day 1968. His reason for liking it? It put his name on the map worldwide.

McPhedran was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame in November 2017.

Read more at The Sydney Morning Herald

See a selection of McPhedran's photos at The SMH

Russell McPhadren in The Australian Media Hall of Fame

 

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