Douglas had art training, and, after he qualified, he joined the Daily Graphic newspaper in about 1890. In 1898 he was sent to Cuba to cover the war between America and Spain. Two endearing letters written to his mother during his journey from Liverpool to New York en route on the RMS Campania to Havana may be read in the folder accompanying this display.

      The Daily Graphic sent him to St. Petersburg in Russia in 1904 to cover the political unrest in that country. When King Carlos I of Portugal and Crown Prince Luiz Phillipe were assassinated in Lisbon on 1st February 1908, Macpherson was despatched by the Daily Graphic to cover the story.

      Macpherson was commissioned into the R.N.V.R. in January 1915 as a war reporter and combat artist. He was discharged in August 1916 as he was required back at the Daily Graphic to continue reporting on the war.       In 1919 he left the Daily Graphic and joined The Sphere magazine and later the Illustrated London News. When Lord Caernarvon and Howard Carter team in 1922 went to Luxor and excavated the tomb of King Tutankhamen, Douglas Macpherson was the only artist sent to make watercolour drawings at the opening of the Tomb and the Sarcophagus. Copies of his work form part of this exhibition. The original paintings stored in the archives of The Sphere were destroyed during the blitz in World War II.

      Following the excitement of the Tutankhamen discoveries, his next big project was the first Everest expedition. In 1924 he was commissioned to paint in black and white aerial views of the route of ascent from photographs. He also produced the poster for the film show of the expedition.