Leading Scottish photographer Harry Benson, who was this week made a CBE in the New Year honours, said that the next target for his lens is Barack Obama Benson, who has produced an image of every American president from the 1950s onwards, is also preparing to take an image of the Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin.
"Putin is such an intriguing person, you know, he's got an interesting face," said Benson, who is based in New York, but was born and raised in Glasgow.
Obama will be the 11th US leader to be photographed by the photographer, who has captured images of every President since Dwight D Eisenhower.
"I'm planning to photograph him just before he goes in the White House. He is interesting," Benson said yesterday.
Benson, now 78, acknowledged that perhaps his most famous image - a 1964 picture of The Beatles having a pillow fight after hearing I Wanna Hold Your Hand was number one in the US charts - has become a defining image of that era.
"I still think I took the best picture of that time of the Beatles. It's a happy picture. A lot of famous pictures are not happy, they are of stress and hardship," he said.
"This is a happy picture of a very, very famous musical group at their very best. Every photographer is known for one picture - I took that one."
The image was one of 100 featured in the recent exhibition of his work at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - an exhibition he described as a "very important" return to his roots.
He was given his honour this week alongside other well known Scots, including the cyclist Chris Hoy, who was knighted, and Sir Tom Farmer, who received a CVO for his work with the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Benson said that Glasgow had given him some "tough" memories, and said he struggled to find a job in Glasgow, but he still likes to visit his hometown.
Benson said: "It's a place I know and love dearly. I love to go back and just walk around the places that I walked about in when I was younger.
He also recalled being awarded the honorary degree of doctor of letters from the University of Glasgow. He said: "A nephew of mine, who was at Glasgow University, said: You know, it took me over five and a half years to get a degree from here and you get it right away'.
"I said: No, I didn't, it took me 70 years'."Obama is photographer Benson's next target
