Iain Macmillan

20th century Scottish photographer
the photographer

Iain Stewart Macmillan (20 October 1938 – 8 May 2006) was the Scottish photographer famous for taking the cover photograph for the Beatles' album Abbey Road in 1969. He grew up in Scotland, then moved to London to become a professional photographer. He used a photo of Yoko Ono in a book that he published in 1966, and Ono invited him to photograph her exhibit at Indica Gallery. She introduced him to John Lennon, and Lennon invited him to photograph the cover for Abbey Road. He worked with Lennon and Ono for several years, staying for a while at their home in New York.

Macmillan was born in Dundee, Scotland. He attended the High School of Dundee and graduated in 1954. He worked as a trainee manager at a jute mill.

He moved to London in 1958 to study Photography at the Regent Street Polytechnic. His first work was as a cruise photographer. He returned to Dundee in 1959 to photograph street scenes. From this work The Sunday Times and the Illustrated London News commissioned him in the early 1960s. In the mid 1960s he worked on an exhibition catalogue for "The Sculpture of David Wynne". He also photographed "The Book of London" (1966), Yoko appears on page 181 presenting a demonstration of "Handkerchief Piece". The photo shows Yoko and three others wearing handkerchiefs tied over their mouths. She commissioned him to photograph her exhibit at the Indica Gallery in St. James's, London.

In the 1970s, Macmillan taught photography part time at college in Stoke on Trent. In 1980 he took the cover photo for the album Hinge and Bracket at Abbey Road which was a parody of the Beatles photo. In the 1980s, his work was on exhibit in the US, Britain and Europe. The BBC used some of his photos in the series The Rock 'n' Roll Years. After the death of his mother, Macmillan moved back to Carnoustie, Scotland. On 22 July 1993, he photographed Paul McCartney at Abbey Road on the zebra crossing, this time with only an Old English Sheepdog. The shot was used on the cover of Paul Is Live album. On 8 May 2006, at the age of 67, Macmillan died of lung cancer.