Alisdair Macdonald

This article is about the British press photographer. For people by the same name, see Alastair McDonald (disambiguation).

Alisdair Macdonald (1940–2007) was a British press photographer^[1] who worked for 26 years with the Daily Mirror.^[2] He took a seven-year break to help launch the first full-colour national newspaper Today.^[3]

Alisdair Macdonald at the Daily Mirror offices, 1962

In 1963 Macdonald travelled with the Beatles to Paris to document their shows at the Olympia. He would regularly photograph the band, up to and beyond their break up in 1970.^[4]

In 1989 he won first place in the Humour category of the World Press Photo contest for his photograph of a workman leaving the scene of a burst water main.^[5]

Legacy

After his death, his daughter Helen Macdonald adopted a goshawk to help her cope with her grief and she subsequently wrote H is for Hawk about her experiences.^[6][7]

He was portrayed by Brendan Gleeson in the 2025 film H Is for Hawk.