One of the great visual storytellers of our time, Peter Beard was an artist, photographer, diarist and filmmaker. This exhibition, A Walk on the Wild Side, explores Beard’s lifelong engagement with storytelling through photography and diaries.

Peter Beard: A Walk on the Wild Side presents a selection of the artist’s most celebrated works, documenting the changing dynamics of animal and human populations in Tsavo National Park, Kenya. In the 1960s, Beard acquired a plot of land, with permission from the Kenyan president, known as Hog Ranch, where he filmed, photographed and documented the flora, fauna and people of Tsavo.

Beard’s major work, The End of the Game, tells the story of the end of an era in East Africa, charting how the passing of decades led to the massive die-off of animal species and the destruction of a once-abundant landscape. The book records the history of humankind as explorer, adventurer, poacher and, ultimately, destroyer.

Combining diaries, collages and photography, Beard’s unique works offer an unromantic celebration of the essence of Africa.

Peter Beard, Peter Beard with Minor the Busy Baby at Hog Ranch, 1968
© The Estate of Peter Beard