Visual Journeys

``Minxie'' is what Beny's friend Peggy Guggenheim called him. ``Difficult'' and ``arrogant,'' said other friends. An internationally celebrated photographer, Beny (1924-1984) was a country boy from Medicine Hat, Alberta, who rocketed to stardom in the 1950s and became known for his parties, eccentric clothing and penthouse in Rome. Politically blind, he was close to the shah and shahbanou of Iran as well as to a miscellany of European royals and arts people. But despite his love of la dolce vita, work dominated his life and he produced some of the most exquisite photographic books on India, Greece, Japan, Iran, Italy and Canada. He exhibited frequently abroad and at home; and won significant honors. This offering of 157 plates, some in color, of his cultural, architectural, landscape and portrait studies from all over the world is accompanied by commentary from his friend and erstwhile collaborator, art historian Crites, along with excerpts from Beny's diaries and his unfinished autobiography. (Oct.)