He has shot the biggest stars in the world for the most prestigious magazines in some of the world’s most exotic locations,
But Albert Watson admits he has never been happier than hunkered down in the wind and rain of Skye, framing the wild beauty of one of Scotland’s most spectacular islands.
Mr Watson, 76, lives in New York but a holiday in Skye 20 years ago made him want to come back and capture it on film.
“It stayed with me as being an unusual, interesting and charismatic place and I wanted to shoot the landscapes,” said the Edinburgh-born photographer.
“It was a personal project and a real case of getting back to my roots.
“I planned it for two years and I went in with a complete back-up crew to help me.
“I was there for six weeks and we did 12 hours every single day. We got up in the dark and finished in the dark.”
Such is the Mr Watson’s attention to detail, he spent three days just photographing the surface of lochs as the wind changed the patterns on the water.
“I was looking for something mysterious that had atmosphere,” he said.
“I deliberately went in October and November because I was hoping for bad weather – and of course I got it.
“I find blue sky with white fluffy clouds deadly when it comes to creating a powerful landscape and I was looking for wind and rain and mist.”
He is now putting the finishing touches to his Isle of Skye work, which will be shown at one of his forthcoming global gallery and museum shows.
Throughout his career, which took off in America in the mid-1970s, he has photographed hundreds of world-famous faces from The Queen to Clint Eastwood, David Bowie to Michael Jackson, Andy Warhol to President Clinton.
“I’m always super-organised and the real preparation isn’t the equipment,” he said.
“That should be a given. It’s the amount of homework you’ve done on the person.
“I photographed Al Pacino and we checked and learned he never ate in the morning but he did like an espresso.
“We bought a machine, found out his favourite blend of coffee and that he liked it with a slice of lemon rind on the side.
“When he arrived we were able to offer him that and these things work wonders where you are dealing with a celebrity.”
Mr Watson is the man behind the camera for more than 100 Vogue covers worldwide and over 40 Rolling Stone covers.
And he says his time at Duncan of Jordanstone College in Dundee was the grounding that led to global success.
“The four years I had studying graphic design there were very formative in what I do now, which is very diversified,” he said.
“I might do a landscape in the Fairy Glen and then be looking at a poster for Kill Bill or Steve Jobs. Then it might be a fashion shot or a cover of Vogue.”
His latest high-profile commission is the 2019 Pirelli calendar.
