Peto Collection in focus at the Scottish Parliament
Published On Tue 21 Jul 2015 by Roddy Isles
Unseen photographs of some of the world’s most iconic figures – including Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill and Indira Gandhi – taken from the University of Dundee’s Michael Peto Collection are going on show at the Scottish Parliament this summer.
`Michael Peto: Politics in Focus’ includes photographs by Michael Peto – the celebrated Hungarian-born photographer who witnessed some of the most historic moments of the 1950s and 1960s.
The exhibition includes a number of unseen photographs of some of the world’s most iconic figures. People who have shaped and changed the way we see the world including Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Indira Ghandi and Jennie Lee.
Brian Cox, Rector at the University of Dundee and Patron of the Peto collection said, “From humble beginnings Michael Peto grew into an incredible artist and photographer. With an intense interest in the variations of human form he had a talent for capturing his subjects in their natural environment. This collection is an extraordinary gift he has left us, so please learn, appreciate, enjoy.”
The exhibition is running alongside the World Press Photo (WPP) Exhibition 2015, an international contest for photojournalists which features 130 moving and thought provoking images taken during the course of 2014. Once again the Scottish Parliament is the only Parliament in the world to host the exhibition.
Both exhibitions are free to visit and will be on display in the Main Hall and Burns Room (Committee Room 1) of the Scottish Parliament from Wednesday 22 July – Saturday 22 August.
The Presiding Officer, the Rt Hon Tricia Marwick MSP said, “The photographs in these two exhibitions show photojournalism at its finest. The images may be split by decades but what they have in common is their quality and thought provoking nature. They capture moments of time and make us look at who we are and what we do in a different way.
“I am proud that the Scottish Parliament is once again home to remarkable photography exhibitions that offer the people of Scotland the chance to see these images in their Parliament.”
Notes to Editors
Michael Peto: Politics in Focus
Born in 1908 in Bata, Hungary, Peto settled in London at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, working firstly as a writer. He took up photography in 1947 mainly to illustrate his own work. His photographs were first published in The Observer in March 1949. He became a regular contributor alongside other celebrated photojournalists including Jane Bown, Peter Keen and David Sim. During the 1950s and 1960s, Peto documented social issues and the key cultural and political figures of the era.
Roddy Isles
Head of Press
TEL: 01382 384910
MOBILE: 07800 581902
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk