This article is about Thomas Patrick John Anson, an English photographer. For the American musician whose birth name is Patrick Anson Doheny, see Ned Doheny.
Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (25 April 1939 – 11 November 2005), was an English photographer from the Anson family. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practice he was known as Patrick Lichfield.
His father died in 1958, leaving Patrick to succeed as 5th Earl of Lichfield when his grandfather died in 1960.
Part of the exhibition of Lichfield's work, at Shugborough Hall
Lichfield joined the Grenadier Guards in 1959. On leaving the Army in 1962, he began to work as a photographer's assistant, and built up his own reputation, partly as a result of having access to the Royal Family. He was selected to take the official photographs of the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981, and subsequently became one of the UK's best-known photographers. From 1999 onwards he was a pioneer of digital photography as a professional standard. He was chosen by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to take official pictures of her Golden Jubilee in 2002.
On 10 November 2005, Lichfield suffered a major stroke and died the following day at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. He was 66 years old. His funeral was held on 21 November at St Michael and All Angels Church, Colwich, Staffordshire, where he was buried in the family vault.[5]
Lichfield's apartment at Shugborough now houses an exhibition of his work, together with a recreation of his studio.[6]
Bibliography
Lichfield on Photography. London: Collins, 1981.
The Most Beautiful Women. London: Elm Tree, 1981.
A Royal Album. London: Elm Tree, 1982.
Creating the Unipart Calendar. London: Collins, 1983.
Hotfoot to Zabriskie Point (with Jilly Cooper). London: Constable, 1985.
Not the Whole Truth: an autobiography. London: Constable, 1986.
Lichfield on Travel Photography. London: Constable, 1986.
