Photographer sues over nude shoot at National Trust castle
A PHOTOGRAPHER who staged an “artistic” nude photoshoot at a Scottish castle is suing the National Trust for Scotland for up to £50,000 in a libel case, claiming that an outcry from the trust damaged his reputation.
Howard Kennedy said the trust’s denial that it had sanctioned photographs of a naked model at Craigievar Castle had affected his professional reputation and cost him sales.
In 2012 Kennedy and his wife Karen used the turreted, pink castle in Aberdeenshire – rumoured to be the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle – as the setting for a shoot with the model Rachelle Summers, and advertised prints for sale online.
Four years later, the images were seen by NTS, which claimed that staff had not authorised the shoot. It followed a complaint from a descendant of the 19th Lord Sempill, who left the castle to the trust.
Gabriel Forbes-sempill, daughter of the 19th Lord Sempill, said at the time: “I am by no means a prude but I don’t believe my parents gave the castle to the nation for this sort of thing.”
NTS issued a statement claiming the photographs were “unauthorised” and that “the trust would never sanction photographs of this nature – especially at a location that is regularly visited by families with children”. Mr Kennedy argues that he agreed a contract to the shoot at the castle with a member of NTS staff, and paid £200 to do so.
David Glen, for the NTS, told a preliminary hearing at London’s High Court that Mr Kennedy claims he entered into an oral contract over the nude assignment and that at least one female member of trust staff supervised the photoshoot, either in person or by CCTV. The barrister said: “The National Trust for Scotland disputes this factual case.”
The court heard that the NTS statement “was said to have precipitated a considerable drop, around 50 per cent, in bookings of training courses which Mr Kennedy runs”, with him “finding it extremely difficult to make commercial sales calls”. As well as libel damages, Mr Kennedy is suing for alleged breach of the Data Protection Act “including special damages for loss of business”, the judge was told.
The court heard an argument that the damages case, in which Mr Kennedy intends to seek up to £50,000 for the alleged damage caused to his business, should be decided by an English judge because the photographer’s business reputation has been affected south of the border. Greg Callus, for the photographer, said his client would have the potential to win higher damages and to use no-win, no-fee lawyers in the High Court in England.
The trust wants the case to be decided by a sheriff in Scotland, where the shoot took place, and nearer the homes of potential witnesses.
Sir David Eady reserved his ruling on where the case should be heard until a later date.
A spokesman for the National Trust for Scotland said: “The matter is subject to a legal process and we are unable to comment further at this time.”