Michael Peto collection

The Michael Peto photographic collection encapsulates Britain and the wider world during the 1950s and 1960s - a period of emergence from WWII into a world of changing cultures, politics and technologies.

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Occupations

Peto recorded different kinds of employment, much of which has disappeared or changed beyond recognition

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Politics

Peto captured the turbulence of the anti-apartheid and nuclear disarmament movements, East-West tensions and the British political scene

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Ballet

An enthusiast of the ballet, many of Peto’s photographs preserve the quieter moments rather than the spectacle

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Art and literature

The worlds of artists, poets and writers are well represented in the collection

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Everyday life

Peto’s interest in how the human form related to its surroundings informed his assignments, creating images that often went beyond journalistic coverage.

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Music

From the 1950s, Peto captured the emerging youth scene and their music as well as famous classical and jazz musicians.

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Sport and leisure

We can trace our habits of relaxation and endeavour through Peto’s photographs, recognising those that we still have today.

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Film and theatre

During rehearsals, broadcasts or filming, Peto captured established and emerging talent.

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As a photojournalist with the Observer, Peto’s camera captured and reflected these changes, from London’s emerging youth culture, Welsh miners and Aberdeenshire fisherwomen, to actors, artists, ballet dancers, musicians and politicians. He also travelled throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia capturing the everyday lives of their populations.

Michael Peto

Born in Hungary in 1908, Peto was living in Budapest in the 1930s. Warned of the impending Nazi invasion, Peto, along with his future wife and her son, managed to escape to Britain. He was known as a writer and during the war he worked for the Ministry of Labour and served as personal secretary to Count M Karolyi, planning the establishment of a post-war New Democratic Hungary. With the takeover by the USSR, Peto decided to remain in Britain.

Peto had always been interested in photography and in the early post war years photographer and artist Ervin Marton helped Peto to develop his skills. Encouraged by other artist friends, particularly Josef Herman, Peto worked as a freelance photographer until he was noticed and subsequently employed by The Observer after he covered the 1948 Olympic Games. He also worked with Save the Children. Although a photojournalist who covered major events, Peto's primary interest lay in the study of the human form in its surroundings, often producing art via a news story.

His skill in capturing the essence of people, be they famous or unknowns was recognised; he was awarded a bronze medal by the International Organisation of Journalists at Interpress-Foto at their 1960 meeting held in Berlin and was awarded a further bronze medal at the Budapest International Exposition of Photographic Art in 1970. He also collaborated on several publications, including ‘The Dancer’s World’ (1963) and 'About Britain' (1968).

Michael Peto died on Christmas Day, 1970, at the age of 62. His stepson, Michael Fodor, who was studying at Dundee, donated Peto’s collection of over 130,000 negatives and prints to the University. The collection also includes his correspondence, papers and publications. The Archive has been working to digitise, preserve and fully catalogue Peto’s negatives and prints so they continue to be a rich and valuable resource for generations.