During much of his life, Beard devoted himself to photographing nature and people in Africa. In the photo book The end of the game (1965) he described, among other things, how thousands of rhinos and elephants died of starvation and stress in a Kenyan national park. He also discovered the then world-famous model Iman on a street in Nairobi.
“Peter was an extraordinary man who lived an exceptional life. He lived fully and was relentless in his passion for nature, ”his family writes in a statement, adding that he was ahead of his time when it comes to alerting about environmental degradation.
Last exhibition 2016Peter Beard's last exhibition took place in 2016, at a gallery in East Hamptons in New York. During his lifetime, he spent time with several of the great names of his time, such as Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon and Salvador Dali. He also got to know Lee Radzivill and her sister Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
Beard also played a major role for Swedish documentary filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson's The Summer (2017), which became a new chapter on the cult film Gray Gardens and Jackie Kennedy's eccentric relatives Big and Little Edie.
Peter Beard turned 82 years old.