Adventures and Misadventures of Peter Beard in Africa ANNOTATION
The extraordinary story of photographer Peter Beard's life in Africa--the remarkable saga of a lone artist's audacious and fiercely idiosyncratic response to the devastation of African wildlife. 170 photos, 20 in color.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
As comfortable in the bush as he is in Manhattan's hottest nightclubs, Peter Beard is a throwback to an earlier, more adventurous age. Photographer, writer, diarist, anthropologist, historian, and socialite - he has led the kind of wild, rugged life fictionalized by Conrad and Hemingway. A man of extremes, excesses, and contradictions, Beard has made Kenya his home for more than thirty years. And in those years he has had one continuous obsession: chronicling the devastation of nature in East Africa. His obsession has taken many forms - from hunting crocodiles to photographing the die-off of untold thousands of starving elephants. He has made his vision public via critically acclaimed films and books - among them Eyelids of Morning and The End of the Game. This book illuminates both the man and his powerful, ever more urgent message. The Adventures and Misadventures of Peter Beard in Africa is part biography, part social history. Beard's dramatic life has been matched lockstep by the dramas that have been transforming East Africa since his arrival. From his front-row seat - Hog Ranch, his 45-acre encampment overlooking the Ngong Hills - he has watched a land of hunters and nomads become an urbanized sprawl, where the annihilation of animal populations has been matched only by the uncontrolled growth of the human population. Beard has been a player in this drama - he has risked beating and imprisonment at the hands of the local government and political confrontation with international organizations. Throughout, he has remained a charismatic and controversial character. His life, and Hog Ranch, are filled with glamorous figures: he was friend to Karen Blixen, confidant of Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol, discoverer of the model Iman. His story, as told here by Jon Bowermaster, is ultimately East Africa's story - a look into a world irrevocably changed. Bowermaster's searching text and Beard's own classic and unpublished photographs give shape and texture to both th
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Beard is a self-described ``remittance chum,'' a fellow who lives on trust fund income. He is also a respected photographer, both of African wildlife ( End of the Game , LJ 2/15/89) and beautiful models (he is the ex-husband of Cheryl Tiegs). Bowermaster describes Beard's experiences during 30 years in Africa, including times spent as a paid hunter, artist, Karen Blixen fan, eccentric, landowner, playboy, brief prison inmate, and, most recently, father. Though schooled in art, Beard would also like to be known as a person who understands wildlife management. Opposing the strict preservationists, he supports the ``cull the herd'' viewpoint, but he is also convinced that the real problem is human population growth and the resulting inevitable wildlife/human competition for resources. The photos were not seen, but given beard's reputation, they should be impressive. An interesting addition to biography or Africa collections.-- Nancy Moeckel, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, Ohio
Home
