ALBERT WATSON

We no longer need to introduce Albert Watson, one of todays greatest photographers, famous for his portraits, his advertising campaigns and above all the major influence he exerts in the world of photography, cinema and fashion. The Scotsman graduated in cinema from the Royal College of Art in London, then moved to Los Angeles in 1970. Watsons unique and singular approach attracted the attention of major fashion magazines. He took an iconic portrait of Alfred Hitchcock with a dead goose, in 1973, and three years later landed his first job for Vogue. He then moved to New York, where his career took off. Since then, Watson has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and his prints are part of the most prestigious collections (National Portrait Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Getty Museum, The Smithsonian, etc.).

In 2007, one of his large format prints of Kate Moss sold for $108,000 at Christie;s in London. He has won numerous accolades including an Order of the British Empire (OBE) from Queen Elizabeth II, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal Photographic Society and even a Grammy. Watson photographs in a graphically strong style, icons of fashion, rock, film and around the world, while also focusing on his personal artistic projects.

His first major gallery exhibition, in 1979, featured photographs he had taken at the Calgary Stampede in Canada, one of the largest rodeos in the world. He has photographed over 100 covers for Vogue, 40 for Rolling Stone and dozens of famous album covers for artists such as David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Jay-Z. He created the photographs used in major advertising campaigns for companies such as Prada, Chanel and Levis, and photographed dozens of Hollywood movie posters, including ;Kill Bill, Memoirs of a Geisha;.

Watsons first shoot for Vogue was in 1976 and the most recent was last fall, spanning 46 years, the longest of any photographer working for Condé Nast. But above all, the singularity of Watson's photographs lies in its great diversity. He established himself as one of the most successful and prolific photographers in the world. Portraits, beauty, fashion, nudes, still lifes, landscapes, projects in Morocco and China, series with a monkey, or on a dominatrix in Las Vegas, mountains on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, a series of mission artifacts moons Apollo and the tomb of King Tut….a diversity that remains unmatched.

Watson;s images are not only visually stunning, they convey a great passion for lighting and technical expertise, which he masters brilliantly from shot to print. Watson still makes each of his prints himself in his studio, as he has done since the 1960s. Soon to be 80 years old, Watson still lives and works in New York, Manhattan. He continues to film, to teach, to create. He devotes a large part of his time to engraving and to the preparation of exhibitions in galleries and museums. His studio houses his archives, in the form of millions of prints and negatives, exceptional testimony to the photographers journey, and more than 50 years of photography. For more information on Albert Watsons fine art prints, contact A. Galerie, 4 rue Léonce Reynaud, 75116 Paris.