Albert Watson (Scottish, b.1942) is a well-known fashion and commercial photographer whose images have appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar. Born in Edinburgh, Watson received a degree in film and television from the Royal College of Art in London, before moving to Los Angeles in 1970. He quickly found work as a photographer after meeting art director Max Factor, who offered the artist his first test session. Watson’s unique approach to fashion portraits eventually caught the attention of American and European fashion magazines. In 1976, he landed his first job for Vogue, and resettled in New York in the same year.

Watson has produced photographs for hundreds of successful advertising campaigns for international brands, such as Prada, the Gap, Levi’s, Revlon, and Chanel, and he has directed TV commercials and shot posters for major Hollywood films.

In addition to his numerous commissions, Watson also pursues his own projects, and has published books that include Strip Search on the Las Vegas Strip and UFO: Untitled Fashion Objects. He has held solo and group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in Milan, Italy; the KunstHausWien in Vienna, Austria; the City Art Centre in Edinburgh; the FotoMuseum in Antwerp, Belgium; the NRW Forum in Dusseldorf, Germany; the Forma Galleria in Milan; Fotografiska in Stockholm; Hamiltons Gallery, London; the National Portrait Gallery in London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow; the International Center of Photography in New York; the Brooklyn Museum; and the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany.