Peter Beard's work has moved me since I was in high school. I don't even remember how I first discovered his art (it's been a while), but it still moves me. His life is quite interesting…wealth and fame have played a big role in his life. He started keeping diaries around the age of 11 in 1949, and inspired by the book Out of Africa, he traveled there in 1955. Thus began his craft of combining stunning (and sometimes shocking) animal photography with his writings, developing his now well-known collages. I actually had the great pleasure of meeting him (by accident) in Soho many years ago, and I felt like a giddy little schoolgirl (for various reasons)!

If you are a lover of Isak Dinesen's book, as I am, you will find it interesting that he later met and became friendly with her (also known as Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke). He fell in love with Africa, as she had, and eventually purchased a 43 acre area of land adjacent to her farm in Kenya. Even though her book was written around the time of his birth, he looks so much like the handsome Robert Redford in the film Out of Africa, it is uncanny! Google his photos…seriously, and I encourage you to visit his site to learn more about his philanthropy…