Photo courtesy of Taschen

43 years ago adventurer / photographer Peter Beard published a landmark book on Africa, The End of the Game.

The pedigreed Yale grad - whose dashing grandfather, tobacco heir Pierre Lorillard IV is credited with popularizing the tuxedo - had met author Karen Blixen (aka Isak Dinesen) in Denmark, who sparked his interest in the Dark Continent.

Beard, pictured here in Kenya’s Aberdare Moorlands in 1966 displaying some of grandpa’s flair, went on to become not only one of our most interesting and accomplished cultural characters, but a true style icon as well, marrying Cheryl Tiegs and discovering Iman along the way. Taschen has just come out with a revised edition of the End of the Game, with a new foreword by Paul Theroux, a seasoned adventurer in his own right.

More on the new edition of Beard’s classic»

The other day in our post about Peter Beard, we noted that the legendary lensman is still going strong while his swashbuckling contemporaries have all bitten the dust.

If anyone required further proof, Beard just finished shooting the 2009 Pirelli Calendar, the Italian tire company’s coveted and highly flammable annual promo full of naked supermodels given away to select VIPs (the kind who own fleets of Pirelli-shod Ferraris). Beard spent 10 days in the wilds of Botswana with a flock of world-class hotties including Kemptress Isabeli Fontana, The Gisele, Malgosia Bela, Daria Werbowy, Raquel Zimmermann and not a lot of clothes.

Here, the ever-adventurous photographer sets up a shot of a couple of the gals frolicking topless with Cathy the elephant.

All in a day’s work for our man Pete.

Swashbuckling photographer Peter Beard’s work isn’t getting any cheaper—quite the opposite in fact—but we consider it fairly recession proof as these things go. We recently told you about the re-release of his classic 1965 book on Africa, The End of the Game. Then we reported on his shoot in Botswana for the 2009 Pirelli Calendar featuring naked supermodels and an elephant named Cathy.

Now he’s finally hitting the auction circuit»

It’s definitely the weather for shades, but we wouldn’t go overboard. A slight purple hue is all the protection you need…at least until those rose-colored glasses get in.

This pair comes from L.G.R., whose stated goal is combining Italian and African styles. It makes sense here: The frames are all Italy, but the lenses have a certain Sarahan glow. Which should be just about right for the west coast…

Not many artists are suited to make the leap to sneakers, but if we had to choose, Kehinde Wiley would be at the top of our list.

He’s best known for combining a neoclassical streak with a genuine affection for street culture (his take on Ice-T is a pretty good example), but apparently he’s decided all those rococo patterns wouldn’t look bad on a pair of hi-tops either. These kicks come from Puma’s new Africa collection, with a pattern borrowed from Mr. Wiley, who borrowed the look from traditional Subsaharan textiles. There are a few track jackets and t-shirts along for the ride, but they don’t capture the “regal streetwear” vibe quite as well as these.

If he’s as marketing-savvy as the rest of the art world, they might even end up in a painting or two.

In honor of your weekend plans, this snap (hat tip) catches three young adventurers at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Dig the high performance clothes and, well, the clouds.