A number of interesting points have been raised in this thread.
Alastair said "Should national galleries be allowed to charge for special exhibitions?"
To which I would say definitely yes. Our national galleries and museums are desperate for funding and this seems like a sensible way of supplementing that funding.
It's a simple matter of choice whether you pay to go or not.
Alastair also said "Is £16 too much to charge for a special exhibition in a national gallery?"
To which I would answer, No, it's probably about right.
I had no qualms about baying £15.50 for the David Bowie Exhibition at the V&A last year.
However, everything has it's price, and in terms of freedom of choice, I choose not to pay that amount for the Bailey exhibition, since firstly, lots of the images have probably been seen elsewhere anyway, and secondly, I'm not particularly interested in Baileys style of photography.
There's all this thing about him being a "household name" but how many of the Great British Public would be able to pick out one of his images from a random selection of similar types of shot?
PMN said "If theres a band I really want to see I'd think 15 quid for a ticket were an absolute steal (my ticket to see the Eagles in June cost £137 by comparison). If there's a photographer whose work I really love 15 quid is nothing to see 250 images printed properly as the artist intended them to be viewed."
This sums it up for me. As a long time Eagles fan, and having seen them many times in the past, this is the first time I have ever declined to pay their extortionate demands for ticket prices.
The Eagles have simply priced themselves out of the market, even for a lifelong fan like myself.
I would further agree that if it were a photographer whose work I love, then £15 would represent a reasonable price, but to expect to pay that sort of price for a gig these days is pure fantasy.
I find it extremely frustrating that big name gigs sell out so quickly that the only way to get tickets is to pay over the odds.
I work in the music business, and I have heard from a company that promotes some really big name bands, that they budget their ticket prices for 80% seat sales.
Their comment was that, if they sold out, then it indicated that they hadn't set the ticket prices high enough.
Unfortunately my business connections don't often allow me access to the corporate ticketing arrangements, and I have to pay up like most other fans.
