Audio Tour - Facing the Lens

Harrison Photography Gallery 365

1202 - Peter Beard
From the video "With Peter Beard in Africa," 1988

Peter Beard
American, born 1938
Hallelujah the Hills, Vermont, 1962
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Martin Weinstein 2002.181.5

Peter Beard
American, born 1938
Sunday October 26th, 1980, 2003
Photograph, mixed media
The McClurg Photography Purchase Fund 2003.108.2

A descendant of St. Paul railroad baron James J. Hill, Peter Hill Beard has lived a life privilege and glamour, but also has spent considerable time in the bush of Africa. He was enthralled by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)'s book, Out of Africa, and visited the continent as a result. Years later he bought land in Kenya next to Blixen's farm. Sensitive to his surroundings, he lived in a tent and documented the plight of endangered elephants. He has also photographed supermodels for fashion magazines, often placing them in the wilds of Africa. Beard is an inveterate diarist, producing voluminous books that are stuffed with his writings, quotations, drawings, photographs, and paper ephemera. His creative photographs of both animal and fashion imagery are usually heavily collaged, sometimes incorporating his own blood. He now resides in New York.