Picture flashback: Alex Salmond visits Culloden in 2014 ahead of Scottish independence referendum

Family and friends including high-profile figures gathered at a memorial service in Edinburgh yesterday for former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Mr Salmond died of a heart attack aged 69 while attending a conference in North Macedonia.

As part of our weekly Behind the Lens series, we recall a visit by Mr Salmond to Culloden in September 2014 ahead of the Scottish Independence Referendum.

This powerful close-up photographic portrait, seemingly capturing him in a moment of deep concentration, was taken by Highland News & Media photographer Gary Anthony.

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Gary was also there to cover a visit by Alex Salmond to Inverness rail station earlier in the year to announce multi-million pound investment.

Behind The Lens: The Legacy of a Highland news photographer, is an online retrospective series in tribute to Gary who died in August 2023, aged 58.

To thousands across the area, was the popular and visible face of Highland News & Media capturing moments of history in the making, recording people's triumphs and tragedies and observing day-to-day life - and visits by political leaders.

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