Albert Watson (UK, 1942)

Albert Watson (b. 1942, UK) is a Scottish-born photographer whose extraordinary career has spanned more than five decades, seamlessly blending fashion, celebrity portraiture, and fine art into a body of work with an unmistakable visual signature.

Born in Edinburgh and blind in one eye since birth, Watson studied graphic design in Dundee before moving to London to study film and television, where photography emerged as both his passion and creative foundation. His breakthrough came in 1973 with an unforgettable portrait of Alfred Hitchcock holding a plucked goose for Harper’s Bazaar—an image that remains one of the most iconic in modern photography. Just two years later, he won a Grammy Award for his photographic work, and in 1976 he secured his first Vogue commission. That same year, he relocated to New York, firmly establishing himself as a leading figure in fashion and editorial photography.

Since then, Watson has photographed more than 100 covers for Vogue and 40 for Rolling Stone, alongside high-profile advertising campaigns for major global brands and poster imagery for blockbuster films. His creative range extends beyond the commercial world into fine art photography, resulting in acclaimed publications such as Cyclops (1994), Maroc (1998), Albert Watson (2007), Strip Search (2010), UFO (2010), and Kaos (2017). These works reflect his fascination with a wide variety of subjects, from the vibrant streets of Marrakech to the neon-lit interiors of Las Vegas to the rugged beauty of the Scottish landscape, always executed with conceptual clarity and technical precision.

Widely recognized as one of the twenty most influential photographers of all time by Photo District News, alongside legends such as Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, Watson’s photographs are held in the permanent collections of leading museums and institutions around the world.

Albert Watson’s enduring legacy rests on his uncompromising pursuit of excellence, whether portraying world-famous icons, crafting unforgettable commercial imagery, or pursuing deeply personal artistic projects. Renowned for their conceptual strength, refined lighting, and lasting visual impact, his images continue to inspire and influence contemporary photography. He lives and works in New York, where his creative energy shows no sign of diminishing.