Peter Beard

Peter Hill Beard ( born January 22, 1938 in New York City ) is an American photographer, artist and author, best known for its wildlife images.

  • 5.1 Books
  • 5.2 secondary literature
  • 5.3 Notes and references

Life

Peter Beard studied art from 1957 to 1961 with Joseph Albers at Yale University in New Haven. He came from a wealthy family - his great-grandfather, James Jerome Hill was the founder of the Great Northern Railway Company - and could afford to live in the jet-set society; so he was, for example, a friend of Truman Capote and frequently seen with Bianca Jagger and Caroline Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He was known for his image of Africa series and his portrait photos, among other things, he made ​​recordings of David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Veruschka Countess of Lehndorff, Iman and the Irish painter Francis Bacon, for he himself was in turn a few times model. As a fashion photographer, he worked for the magazine Vogue. Beard was married several times and took many adventurous journeys through Africa, among other things, he photographed in the years 1971/1972 systematically the dying and dead elephants. The friend of his Danish writer Karen Blixen and Africa connoisseur encouraged him to pursue his evocative photographic works on the black continent. In their neighborhood, he built in 1961 in Kenya 's Hog Ranch and stayed a total of 23 years in Africa. He writes from his youth Diary; It is provided with drawings and fully glued book collages. Similarly, he also gives his recordings special expressiveness by having them extended with animal blood, and images, with newspaper excerpts and stories.

Today Beard lives in New York City. He is married to Najma Khamm. For his daughter Zara in 2004, he has written a book: Zara 's Tales.

The Last Hunt

In Africa, Peter Beard was the central theme of his life, the destruction of natural wildlife by humans and civilization. His most important work is his often DOMICILED and " now classic that have become book" The End of the Game ( in Germany and Switzerland under the title The Last Hunt appeared ), the 2008 A revised version of the world in pockets with a foreword by the travel writer Paul Theroux came out. The book caused a scandal when it appeared in 1965, because " the cruelty of his photographs laid bare shocking. Elephant carcass cut like scars in African soil, giant skeleton mountains bleach in the sun, stripped zebra skins spread to the horizon from, on top sits proud of the white hunters ". Africa's history is presented here in six chapters, among other texts on the construction of railways in East Africa, Beards elephant and hippo - inventory studies, with drawings as well as old footage, which he followed with his book a mission: "He wants human behavior open in a formerly functioning holistic world lay [ ... ] Beard shows the continent as a huge momentum that once disturbed, opens out into catastrophe. "This last chapter is entitled" Without fear and hope dies the beast " and only displays images, the act of the tragic mass extinction of elephants and destruction of their habitat, for example, trees that were eaten completely bald by the starving animals.

Quote

" I do not like to create art. I avoid deliberately produce art. I went to art school. I have the art now full. My whole life was marked by fleeing from the Academy of Art. Art Academy teaches an exact opposite of art. I am not a person who suffers from it. I'm just of the opinion that one should simply try and do without a lot of thought to waste before about things. I accept the great artists such as Andy Warhol, Duchamp, Francis Bacon, Picasso, Rauschenberg. They are all great artists, but there are very very few. "

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2006/ 07: Michael Hoppen Gallery, London
  • 2006: Camera Work Gallery, Berlin
  • 2004/ 05: Fahey / Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
  • 2003: Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris
  • 2001: The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, USA
  • 2000: Galeries Lafayette, Paris
  • 1999: Kunsthaus Wien
  • 1993: Seibu Museum, Tokyo

Group Exhibitions

  • 2004: La Triennale di Milano, Milan
  • 2004: The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, USA
  • 2002: Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Arles, France
643472
de