Lord Lichfield at the National Trust, Mottisfort

Yesterday I went to see the Lord Lichfield exhibition at Mottisfort Abbey National Trust place in Romsey.  Here's the link to their exhibition site:  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mottisfont/things-to-see-and-do/events/exhibitions/ .

Talk about being mugged before you even got into the event.  It cost £11.25 to enter the house and gardens if you weren't an NT member and if you felt like gift aiding your entrance fee you had to pay over £12.  That's the first time I've ever had to pay more to gift aid.  It warrants further investigation I think.

Lichfield's pictures were up to his usual stunning standard although I had seen many before.  The images mainly centred on his working life in the 1960s/70s and around 2000+.  Sadly he died in 2005 so we'll never know how he would have fully embraced what the 'naughties' digital age can now offer.

(c) Lord Lichfield Studios

I have often wondered how he would have fared without his royal connections.  Would his natural brilliance at relaxing the subject and getting that one extraordinary picture or would he have had to stay in the ranks of the also rans?  I really liked this image of Cecil Beaton and discussed the set up with my colleague as to who would have had the last word in arranging the scenario.







It was interesting to read that no photography was allowed due to infringement of copyright.  Earlier this month I went on a study day with the OCA to the Saatchi Gallery where there are 12 galleries open to the public.  Photography went on there with people not only snatching pictures of the images with their smart phones but students were also opening using cameras to record the images.  No one stopped them even with gallery staff in the same room.

It was an interesting collection of his most famous images, ones that I would expect him to be proud of but it would have been much better if there had been some of his lesser known and even unseen pictures included in the overcrowded rooms.