Biography
Peter & Beverly pickford
Peter studied at Stellenbosch University, in South Africa, before attending Ian Player’s Wilderness Leadership School, becoming a game reserve and safari lodge manager. Beverly studied the sciences at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, then followed a career in hotel management, with the ambition to work and live in wild places. Beverly and Peter met in 1979 and soon after joined forces as safari-lodge managers, where Peter was the first to pick up a camera.
This was the beginning of a lifetime of travelling and documenting the wilderness areas across the planet. Thirty-five years of living beside the wild earth and crossing Africa several times has taught Peter and Beverly that all of us, whether consciously or unconsciously, are tied to the land of our cultural history, to its essential state, its wildness and the wild creatures. To this end they have published the following works to heighten awareness of conservation and wilderness.
Books
Previous titles include Wilderness Dawning 1987, African Birds of Prey 1989, Himba Nomads of Namibia 1990, West Coast – A Circle of Seasons 1991,
Fly-fishing in Southern Africa 1993, The Miracle Rivers – The Okavango and the Chobe of Botswana 1999,
The Longest Cast – The Fly-fishing Journey of a Lifetime 2001, Forever Africa – A Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Morocco 2004 and
African Safari into the Great Game Reserves 2008.
In 2011, they embarked on their most challenging undertaking, a four-year journey in search of the last wild land on earth.
Wild Land – A Journey into the Earth’s Last Wilds was published by Blackwell & Ruth in 2018, winning them the Communication Arts Award of Excellence in 2019.
The story of the Wild Land journey, To the Edges of the Earth, was published in 2021.
Wild Ocean – A Journey to the Earth’s Last Wild Coasts, their eleventh book, follows in 2025, creating an awareness of the magnificence of ocean life, and just how precious pristine seas are for both our survival and for the wildlife that shares our planet.
AWARDS
Peter and Beverly’s work has received numerous international accolades and awards including the Agfa Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Kodak/Canon Black and White Photographer of the Year, Nomination for the Alan Paton Award and several highly commended finalist in the Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards, Gold Medal New York Film & Television Festival, the Communication Arts Award for Excellence in 2019 for Wild Land and Peter has received the St Michael’s Award for an outstanding lifetime contribution to philanthropy.