Lugano
Peter Beard is a renowned photographer and writer, celebrated for his visual collages and artistic diaries. Born in New York in 1938, he spent his childhood between Long Island, New York City, and Alabama, where he developed the habit of keeping diaries—an early practice that would later become the conceptual and material foundation for many of his most iconic works. He began documenting his life through words and images at the age of 12, shortly before his first trip to Africa in 1955. In 1957, he enrolled at Yale University as a pre-med student but soon switched paths to study art history, influenced by prominent figures such as art historian and painter Josef Albers. After graduating, he returned to Kenya, where he purchased a property known as Hog Ranch, located next to the estate of author Karen Blixen, at the foot of the Ngong Hills.
In the early 1960s, Beard worked in Tsavo National Park, where he photographed and documented the dramatic decline of elephants and black rhinos—a subject he explored in several publications. It was during this time that he began creating his celebrated photographic collages, delving into the intricate relationship between humans, animals, and nature. Throughout his career, Beard formed both artistic and personal connections with influential figures such as Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Richard Lindner, Terry Southern, Truman Capote, and Francis Bacon. In the 1970s and 1980s, he photographed notable politicians, fashion icons, rock stars, and celebrities from the New York cultural scene.
His first solo exhibition took place in 1975 at the Blum Helman Gallery. Since then, his works have been exhibited in galleries around the world—from Paris to Los Angeles, New York to Tokyo, and in numerous cities across Africa—cementing his reputation as a visionary visual artist and unconventional storyteller.
