The award-winning former Aberdeen Evening Express photographer Doug Carnegie has died of Covid-19 just days short of his 89th birthday.
Doug began his career aged 17 in 1948 at DC Thomson in Dundee, joined the Daily Mail in 1961 and subsequently moved to Northern Ireland to join the staff of the Belfast Telegraph.
While there he was involved with capturing images of the conflict between republicans and unionists in the province.
He moved to Aberdeen Journals in 1971 to join the Evening Express and stayed with the newspaper until his retirement in 1996.
He was the first press photographer on the scene following a horrific gas explosion at the Royal Darroch Hotel in Cults, near Aberdeen, in October 1983 in which six people died.
His photographs from that tragic day led him to win the title of UK provincial photographer of the year for 1984, which meant a trip to London to receive his award.
He covered Aberdeen FC in its run of great success in the 1980s, under Sir Alex Ferguson, including winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983.
Away from work, he was very much a family man. He married his wife Rita in Dundee in 1957 and they had three children, Derek, Audrey and Gillian.
Rita, 84, said: “We would have been married 63 years on June 1. A lot of the sympathy cards I have received said he was really helpful to the young photographers at Aberdeen Journals. He enjoyed his job, the variety and he knew so many people.”
Doug, a keen golfer, grew up in Invergowrie, Perthshire, with his childhood home overlooking the River Tay. His father worked as a printer at DC Thomson.
A fall at his home in Cults last November led to him being moved into the Kingswells Care Home where he passed away peacefully on 25 April from the coronavirus.
His funeral took place at the Baldarroch Crematorium on 7 May.
His daughter Audrey said Doug had learned he was going to be a great-grandfather to twins in March after his granddaughter Laura told him her good news.
Audrey added: “He was a great family man and a big kid at heart. He was great with us as children and would always have us away on caravan holidays. He was a very good father and grandfather and always did things his way. He was a one-off.”
Picture: DC Thomson
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