Billal Taright

Chatsworth Derbyshire, United Kingdom, 2017

“The first time I went to Chatsworth was to see the House Style: Five Centuries

of Fashion exhibition. I’d mentioned to my friend Louis Mosley – whose great aunt was Debo Devonshire – that I hadn’t been, so we went for a two-day stay and tour. He told me anecdotes about the family and the Mitford siblings (his grandmother was Diana Mosley), and how they wrote to eac h other throughout their li ves.”

What were the circumstances behind the moment these pictur es were taken?

I tend to be a distracted visitor when it comes to exhibitions and visiting places of note. As you can tell from my pictures, the details of the house caught my imagination. I was going around the exhibition, admiring everything from Stella Tennant’s Helmut Lang wedding dress to the Lord’s wool jumpers to Debo Devonshire’s collections of Turnbull & Asser shirts and insect jewellery. And in between the exhibited rooms, I photographed the house.

What emotions did you feel when you first saw this place?

I arrived at Chatsworth in the middle of the day. The drive to the house is quite spectacular. It appears from afar as you cross the bridge. More than just another grand English house, it feels otherworldly and spectacular. That exact feeling is captured in a scene from Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice when Elizabeth Bennet gets to Chatsworth (in lieu of the fictional Pemberley House). Not that I felt like a Jane Austen heroine, but it wasn’t far off.

How would you describe your chosen photograph in three words?

Lost in time. French-Algerian Billal Taright grew up in Paris and studied photography at the École des Arts Décoratifs. He worked at Dior in John Galliano’s studio before moving to London where he joined Mario Testino’s creative team. He specialises in portraiture, interiors and sometimes fashion. An exhibition of Taright’s personal work was inaugurated on 20th September in London.