In the early 1960s, the dashing wildlife (and sometime fashion) photographer Peter Beard chucked his privileged upbringing for the plains, mountains, and jungles of Africa. Although his obsession with the continent, and its preservation, is perhaps most associated with his discovery of Iman in Nairobi, Beard’s photos of African animals — usually collaged together and superimposed with hand-written prose and other marginalia — have nonetheless captured the popular imagination.

A new solo exhibit, his first in 15 years, examines the artist’s extraordinary life and work in the two places he called home: Africa and Montauk, Long Island. The show presents more than 50 collages, drawings, photos, and diaries, from the 1960s to the present — a convergence of African wildlife and the equally exotic wildlife of Montauk, e.g. portraits of his family and friends, including Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol, and Jacqueline Onassis.

Peter Beard: Last Word From Paradise , June 18 – July 31, 2016, Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton