Gavin Watson was born in London in 1965 and grew up on a council estate in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. He started soon taking pictures of his younger brother Neville and their group of skinhead friends in High Wycombe. The 'Wycombe Skins' were part of the working-class skinhead subculture brought together by a love of ska music and fashion. Although skinhead style had become associated with the right- wing extremism of political groups like the National Front in the 1970s, Watson's photographs document a time and place where the subculture was racially mixed and inclusive. His images documented the early D.I.Y. party culture that sprang up around London.

His photographs were published in the books Skins (1994) and Skins and Punks (2008), with director Shane Meadows citing them as an inspiration for his film This is England (2006). His Rave images were published in the book Raving '89 (2009). In 2011 and 2012 Watson photographed campaigns for Dr Martens and Farah. He continues to take photographs and has been a longtime collaborator with the singer Plan B.