Peter Hill Beard b. 22 January 1938 in New York is a photographer, artist, diarist and writer,
His interesting and varied life began in NYC although he was raised all over the US. He came from a influential american family and was thus guaranteed a life in which to pursue his interests, inheriting a colossal railroad and tobacco fortune. He later said that he hated his stiff necked up-bringing, longing for a "life without socks and underpants"
From an early age he compiled scrapbooks, which he continues to do. They are, however, far beyond mere collections of images and memoirs, becoming a strange mixture of narrative and artwork which span a whole range of media, from the written word, taxidermy... even to smears of animal blood and droppings.
He travelled extensively over africa, and his output has been documented in many publications, and he explored such themes as anthropology, poaching, ecology, and many other aspects of the life of that great continent.
On the other hand, he lived the New York social scene of his youth very intensively, being a regular at studio 54, being painted by Francis Bacon and painted on by Dali. He also made films with Capote, following the Rolling Stones, and had other projects with Jacqueline Onassis and Mick Jagger. This diversity in life style gives him a marked difference to most outstanding men, as he appeared to enjoy both the wild, natural at times harsh life of the committed traveller/explorer, as much as the glowing hedonism of the worlds great cities.
“He jumps in and out of a snake pit he keeps in his home. He cuts himself and paints with blood. He wears sandals and socks in winter. He lived in a parked car on 13th Street for six months, and moved when he found a transvestite sleeping on the roof.”
It is this full appreciation of life's variety and what we can experience that I find so seductive!
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