Meet Lawrence WatsonMeet Lawrence Watson

Documenting 18 months in the recording of Noel’s hugely anticipated first solo album, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Lawrence Watson was given unprecedented access to capture the thoughts and processes behind the creation of the songs. Sharp colour and ragged black-and-white images are juxtaposed to create an evocative record of their journey together through the UK and America. The reportage-style imagery is supported by a short film incorporating super-eight, video and still images. 　 “Working so closely (and for such a consistently long time) with Noel has given me a great opportunity to experience his creativity at first hand” says Lawrence. 　 When Noel Gallagher was recently asked by The Telegraph newspaper “Why did you allow Lawrence to photograph you throughout the process?” Noel replied “I'm not sure I ever did! Lawrence has always been around when I've been in the studio. It wouldn't be the same without him to be honest, so it didn’t’ feel like there was anything out of the ordinary going on. He did decide to grow a beard early doors, though, so I could tell how long I was taking to make the record by looking at his ginger beard. Have you seen it? It really should be in the Tate!” 　 ##Lawrence Watson  Lawrence has worked with some of the most famous faces in the business including legendary artists such as Oasis, Paul Weller, Blur, Morrissey, New Order, Ian Brown, Snoop Dogg, Pulp, David Bowie, LL Cool J, Ramones, Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics, George Clinton and James Brown. Born in London in 1963, Lawrence  left school to take up an apprenticeship in a darkroom in Old Street. He graduated to work at London Weekend Television, and whilst there developed his portfolio in the evenings and weekends and began contributing to the New Musical Express (NME). In the early 1980s Lawrence was commissioned to document the emerging New York hip-hop scene and his portraits of legendary artists from that era include Run DMC, Eric B and Rakim and Public Enemy. Most recent works include album sleeve and video for Maverick Sabre; video sleeve and tour programme for Paul Weller; cinematography for Noah and the Whale and documenting Noel Gallagher’s first solo venture in the UK and LA. Lawrence Watson’s work has also been seen in exhibitions in London, Japan, Sweden and the USA. [ lawrencewatsonphotography.com ](http://lawrencewatsonphotography.com/) ##Noel Gallagher [The Official Noel Gallagher Website](http://www.noelgallagher.com)