‘I was photographing Noel Gallagher in Moscow — then the KGB showed up'

Times

3 days ago

I f you religiously read NME before the turn of the millennium, the chances are you've seen one of your favourite musicians through Lawrence Watson's lens. For the past 45 years, the Londoner has been behind the scenes at album shoots, recording sessions and record label meetings that helped to shape the sound and style of the century, shooting everyone from Oasis and Blur to Snoop Dogg and David Bowie.
From a nonchalant Liam Gallagher swathed in a Union Jack flag to Grace Jones lounging across the famous light-up dance floor at Stepney's nightclub (once featured in Pulp's Common People music video), many music fans will recognise some of the defining shots in his extensive archive.
At the time Watson began his career at the NME in the early 1980s, he'd already set his sights on becoming a documentary photographer. 'I went to a scrappy comprehensive school on the Cally Road in north London — the same one as John Lydon from the Sex Pistols,' he tells The Times. 'After passing my art O-level, I managed to get a job in a darkroom in Old Street on the government's Youth Opportunity Scheme. All my heroes were Magnum photographers, so I spent my free time shooting the H-Block marches and the National Front.'