PETER BEARD by Owen Edwards & Steven M. L. Aronson [2013]

Edited by Nejma Beard and David Fahey. Based on the original designs by Ruth Ansel.

Taschen, 2013 | Hardcover, 770 pages | 345 x 235 x 60 mm

What happens when you mix Hemingway, Warhol, and a Nikon? You get Peter Beard, one of the most enigmatic and boundary-breaking figures in 20th-century art. A photographer, diarist, adventurer, and provocateur, Peter Beard (1938–2020) chronicled his life and obsessions with raw, physical intensity — blending stunning wildlife imagery with personal journals stained in ink, blood, and time.

Born into privilege in New York, Beard turned his back on convention and found his calling in Africa. He worked alongside Karen Blixen’s legacy in Kenya, documented the decline of elephant populations, and captured wild, untamed moments from the savannah to Studio 54. This monumental volume is a deeply immersive visual autobiography, overflowing with collages, contact sheets, handwritten annotations, and clippings. A visceral safari through art, wilderness, and self-destruction.

Out of print and increasingly sought after, this oversized hardcover is bound in illustrated boards containing 770 pages of pure visual mayhem, with fold-outs and richly reproduced images. 

A collectable - and very heavy! - treasure for anyone interested in art photography, African wildlife, journal-based or mixed-media art, and countercultural figures of the 1960s–1980s. 

Good+ condition: Mild surface and edge wear to covers and spine. Internally clean and tightly bound, with only light signs of previous ownership. No inscriptions or annotations.