Albert Watson is a Scottish photographer known for his celebrity portraits published in magazines like Rolling Stone and Vogue. He moved to the US in the 1970s to advance his career. Watson is renowned for his black and white mid-close up shots that emphasize eyes for a personal connection. He often uses shadows, plain black backgrounds, and includes subjects' hands in distinctive compositional styles that have earned him assignments with major brands for decades.

1. Albert Watson
Photographer case study

2. Who is Albert Watson?
Albert Watson is a Scottish photographer who has shot covers for magazines such as ‘rolling stone’ and
‘vogue’. Watson was born in 1942 at Edinburgh in Scotland. He attended the Royal college of Art,
University of Dundee and Duncan of Jordanstone college of art and design, where he became serious
about photography and started taking some of the most famous photographs today. He then chose to
move to the united states to kick start his career in the 1970’s. He is known for his celebrity endorsed
photographs and his contribution to the photography world in the music and fashion industry. He has
shot over 100 magazine covers for vogue and over 40 covers for Rolling stone magazine. One of Alberts
first magazine shoots were for Harpers Bazaar where he photographed Alfred Hitchcock. He then went
on to photograph for GQ and many other movie stars, supermodels, rappers, musicians, The royal family,
presidents and other well known high profiled celebrities. Watson has also collaborated with major
brands such as Prada, GAP, Revlon, Levis and Chanel and worked with them on advertising campaigns.
Albert Watson has been active and in the photography game for over 40 years since the mid 1970’s.

3. Photographic style
Albert Watsons distinctive style of photography had landed him the attention of many major brands and
magazines. Most of his photographs are taken in black and white which makes the aesthetics more
appealing. He also gives the image a crisp finish to emphasise on parts of the photograph which are most
important. Most of his photographs also focus on the eyes of the of the model he is photographing. He
focuses on the eye to grab the attention of its audience and for the model to seem as if they are looking
directly at the audience, this allows the audience to feel as if the photograph is more personal suited to
them. Watson likes to engage with his audience by using direct eye contact with the model, another
photographic style that he uses is by photographing in black and white. He may chose to use black and
white photographic style to flash back to the past and make the picture look dated.
Albert also uses mid close shots to capture the models emotions and facial expressions. Almost all of his
images are captured in this shot and it has become his photographical style to do this. The reason for
taking mid close shots is to include all of the emotions and get a message across to the audience.
Watson uses a lot of shadows ibn all of his photography. He likes to ad a lot of shadow on his models
faces only showing a part of their face and the rest being in a shadow.
In most of Alberts photographs the models hands are clearly present in the shot. This is a style he uses to
be distinctive and unique.

4. Tupac Shakur, New York, 1991
Mid close up shot of Tupac. The
shot shows the models face
clearly and shows the emotions
and facial expressions on the
model. The facial expression on
the model are neutral but are
exposed all to the audience. The
use of the mid close up shot
allows the audience to see into
the model and gives us a better
view of the model
There are shadows on the models
face, this is a style that Watson
likes to use. The shadows cover
some of the face and only show
half of the image to the audience.
The use of shadows is to pay
attention to the different lighting.
There is a black background for
this photograph,. This is another
feature that Albert uses to keep
the focus on the subject of the
image rather then the audience
getting distracted from the
background.
Albert Watson uses the models
hands in his photography. He
ensures the hands are always
present in his photography, this
is a distinctive style he uses.
The models eyes are looking
directly at the audience. Albert
likes to shoot models who are
looking directly at the camera to
engage some interaction between
the photo and the audience.

5. I can tell this is a
Albert Watson
photography as there
are similarities to the
previous image. the
models hands are
shown in this image,
this is a style that
albert uses.
There is a black plain
background again
which shows that this
is a albert Watson
photograph.
The model has
shadows on his face
due to the use of
lighting, this is an
affect albert uses.
The use of eye contact
in this image is not as
strong as the previous
image and in fact the
eye contact is not
direct with the
audience, however
there are other styles
in this image which
show that it is a albert
Watson photograph.
David Bowie, New York, 1996
The shot of this
photograph is in mid
close up shot. The
image shows the facial
expression of the
model.

6. Laetitia Casta ,1996
This photograph has a dark and
black plain background. This is a
style that albert Watson uses
frequently therefore we can see
that this image is a part of his
photography.
The models hands are present in
this shot. Albert likes to capture
photographs where the models
hands are shown.
There are shadows on the face
and body of the model. Albert
focuses on the lighting of his
photography hence the shadows
on the models body and face.
The models eyes are directly looking at the
audience making direct eye contact. This
engages the audience and makes them feel
as if they are being targeted specifically by
the photographer.
This shot is a medium shot as half
of the models body is shown. This
is not Alberts usual style but from
the other style used we can tell this
is his photography.