Scots photographer snaps up top award

Edinburgh-born Watson, who has photographed the great and the good from Bill Clinton and the Queen to Kate Moss and rock stars, is being recognised for his outstanding contribution to the art and science of photography.

Watson, 68, joins a distinguished list of photographers to have received the medal including Annie Leibovitz, Don McCullin, David Bailey, Cornell Capa and Martin Parr.

Watson, the son of a former boxer and physical education teacher was born blind in one eye, but went on to become one of the most celebrated photographers of all time. His work is featured in many galleries and museums worldwide.

He has shot more than 200 Vogue covers and over 40 covers for Rolling Stone magazine since the mid-1970s.

In 2007, his nude photographs of Moss, taken in Marrakech in 1993, sold at Christie's for nearly 70,000 - more than five times its pre-sale estimate.

His first celebrity shot was a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock in 1973 in which the film director was photographed holding a dead goose with a ribbon around its neck for the Christmas issue of Harper's Bazaar.

Last night, Watson told The Scotsman: "I think it's nice this award is coming from the English.

"I was very lucky in my life to find something I was passionate about. When you do that the passion never really leaves you. It is a comfort zone to disappear into. When I'm working with someone I think I get a feeling for them, what they are about. You can feel some of the energy from them, but sometimes its negative or a glass wall. You have to 'connect' in a short period of time."

Watson, revealed that he has been working on a film script for the first time along with Italian writer Roberto Bentavegna,

"It's about a professional dominatrix who falls in love with an assassin. It's a very dark."

Watson also has two books coming out in the autumn - UFO: Unified Fashion Objectives, and Strip Search - a three-year project in Las Vegas. "I worked with people like strippers and hookers and met tonnes of interesting people. Lots of people I photographed didn't know who I was until they tracked me down on the internet."

Watson, who had just flown in from preparing an exhibition in Hamburg, said he had no intention of slowing down.

"Two years ago I met photographer Irving Penn's assistant who said to me "Mr Penn just likes to work three days a week now." He was 91 at the time. I think that's great." Describing the essence of his work, which has included projects such as standing stones in Orkney, Watson has said: "I'm after an image that has power."

Watson grew up in Penicuik, Midlothian, and was a pupil at the Rudolf Steiner School in Edinburgh. He has previously cited his time there for equipping him with the qualities needed for his future profession.

"And I have, from my Scottish background, a very, very solid work ethic. I'm dedicated to the work, to doing good work and doing things the right way."