Reckless, uninhibited and brazen, photographer Peter Beard was, as The Washington Post put it, “as wild as the animals he photographed.” Beard produced some of the most beautiful images of wildlife ever captured on film.
Beard was born in 1938 in New York City. His great-grandfather was James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway. As a child, he spent his summers at his grandmother’s Tuxedo Park estate, where she gave him his first camera, a Voightländer. He used it to take pictures to accompany his diaries; Beard was a keen diarist throughout his life, amassing more than 100 volumes. At the age of 17, he took a life-changing trip to Africa with Quentin Keynes, Charles Darwin’s great-grandson, using his Voightländer to photograph wildlife.
After attending prestigious private schools such as Buckley and Pomfret, Beard entered Yale University in 1957 as a pre-med student. However, he soon turned his attention toward art, studying under architectural historian Vincent Scully, German artist Josef Albers and painter Richard Lindner. He graduated in 1961 with a degree in art history.
In the 1960s, Beard returned to Africa, where he met Out of Africa author Karen Blixen. Enamored by the continent’s natural beauty, he purchased Hog Ranch near Blixen’s coffee plantation in Kenya. While there, he received a special dispensation from President Uhuru Kenyatta to film, photograph and document the flora and wildlife at Tsavo National Park. This led to The End of the Game, published in 1965, which documented the demise of more than 35,000 starving elephants and 5,000 black rhinos.
Beard became renowned for his black-and-white and color photography, figurative photos and landscapes. He exhibited around the world, including at New York’s Blum Helman Gallery in 1975, the International Center of Photography in Manhattan in 1977, the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris in 1996 and Guild Hall in East Hampton in 2016.
Beard died in 2020 at the age of 82. His works remain in demand with collectors.
On 1stDibs, find original Peter Beard photography, mixed media work and prints.
Peter Beard - Elephant's Embryo, Uganda, Platinum Print- Unsigned
By Peter Beard
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Elephant's Embryo, Uganda Aributed to Peter Beard/Unsigned The original photograph "unsigned" but documented by its inclusion in "Peter Beard - Fifty Years of Portraits, The End of the Game...
Platinum
Iman by Peter Beard - Photographs - 1986
By Peter Beard
Located in Roma, IT
A pair of beautiful vintage color photographs belonging to the Series "Beauty and the Beast". Realized in 1986 for Playboy. Excellent condition.
Photographic Paper
$275
H 10 in W 13 in
Young Lad ( haunting portrait of young boy on a crowded London street)
By Richard Sadler
Located in New Orleans, LA
Richard Sadler's "Young Boy" is a haunting portrait of a very serious young British lad amidst a crowd of other people. He is dressed very formally in hat, coat and tie. He clutche...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
$141,457
H 29.93 in W 43.78 in
Elephants Walking Through Grass, Amboseli – Nick Brandt, Elephants, Photography
By Nick Brandt
Located in Zurich, CH
NICK BRANDT (*1966, England) Elephants Walking Through Grass, Amboseli 2008 Platinum print Image 58.42 x 106.68 cm (23 x 42 in.) Sheet 76 x 111.2 cm (29 7/8 x 43 3/4 in.) Edition of ...
Platinum
$2,500
H 11 in W 14 in
World Series Parade, New York Photo, Gelatin Silver Print, Signed, 11x14, 1954
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
World Series Parade, New York City, 1954 by Leonard Freed, is an 11" x 14" gelatin silver later ("lifetime") print, signed on verso (back of print) by the photographer and stamped (magnum). The photograph is handprinted by Leonard Freed. Parade by Freed captures the joy of two majorettes en route in the streets of the city for the celebration of the New York Giants...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film
$3,499
H 14 in W 11 in
Kate Standing, Signed Vintage Gelatin Silver Print, 14x11, 2002, Female Nude
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Leonard Freed's stamped vintage (verso), 14" x 11," gelatin silver signed and hand-printed by Freed, Kate Standing, is from the Kate series, 2002. A photographer herself, model Kat...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$5,129
H 11.82 in W 21.26 in
A Man Feeding Swans in the Snow - Grand Prix NYPH New York Photo Festival 2015
By Marcin Ryczek
Located in Hallein, AT
The photo is signed and stamped on the front by Marcin Ryczek and will be send unframed A Man Feeding Swans in the Snow (2013) - edition 25 in format 30...
Photographic Paper
$2,948
H 20.48 in W 13.39 in D 0.08 in
Ariane - Signed limited edition fine art print, Contemporary, Romantic, Dancer
By Ian Sanderson
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Ariane - Signed limited edition archival pigment print , 2005 - Edition of 5 This is an Archival Pigment print on fiber based paper ( Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 gsm , Acid-fr...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Ar...
$2,666
H 20 in W 16 in
Kate Resting, Black and White Gelatin Silver Photograph, Signed, 20x16 Nude
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Black and white contemporary portrait photography of a female nude by Leonard Freed, Kate Resting, is in the photographer's series "Kate". A 20" x 16" gelatin silver photograph signed verso (back of photo) by the Freed estate. The self-assigned female nude photo series on Kate became a welcome reprieve for Leonard Freed who during a long photo...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
$3,699
H 16 in W 20 in
Jewish Diaspora USA 1950s, School Bus New York, Black and White Photography
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
A gelatin silver print, 16" x 20", signed print (verso) by the photographer, School Bus, New York City, 1954 is a black-and-white photograph, capturing Jew...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$1,500
H 8 in W 10 in
Italy, Beach, Black and White Photography 1980s by Leonard Freed
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Beach, Italy, 1984 by Leonard Freed is an 8" x 10" black and white photograph, a gelatin silver RC press print from the Freed archive, signed verso (on back of photograph) by the photographer. Provenance: Freed Estate Leonard Freed discovered Little Italy in New York...
Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin
$2,777
H 16 in W 20 in
Diver, Germany, Gelatin Silver Print, Signed, 16x20 Inches, 1965
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Diver, Dortmund, Germany, 1965 by Leonard Freed is a 16” x 20” gelatin silver print, signed and stamped (on back of photo) by the artist’s widow Brigitte Freed. This contemporary p...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
Tree Frog
By David Johndrow
Located in Denton, TX
Edition of 15 Signed, titled, dated, and print type in pencil on print verso by David Johndrow Platinum palladium print Paper size: 15 x 12 in., Image size: 10 x 10 in. While integr...
Platinum
Last Comes the Raven
By Beth Moon
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Beth Moon is an American-born photographer. She has gained international recognition for her large-scale, richly toned platinum prints. This portfolio focuses on totem-like beliefs ...
Platinum
Sold
H 16 in W 20 in D 0.1 in
Peter Beard - Elephant's Embryo, Uganda, Platinum Print- Unsigned
By Peter Beard
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Elephant's Embryo, Uganda Peter Beard/Unsigned The original photograph "unsigned" but documented by its inclusion in "Peter Beard - Fifty Years of Portraits, The End of the Game, Eyelids of Morning, and many others. Image size: 16 in. H x 20 in. W Platinum print Peter Hill...
Platinum
Peter Beard - Charge Déléphant/Unsigned
By Peter Beard
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Charge Déléphant Elephant reaching for the last branch on a tree, Kenya, 1965 Peter Beard/Unsigned The original photograph unsigned but documented by its inclusion in "Peter Beard - Fifty Years of Portraits, The End of the Game, Eyelids of Morning and many others. Image size: 19½ in. H x 13 3/8 in. W Sheet size: 20 in. H x 16 in. W Platinum print Peter Hill...
Platinum