Michael Peto
Encyclopedia
Michael Peto (b. 1908 - d. 25 Dec 1970) was an internationally recognized Hungarian-British photojournalist of the twentieth century. Emigrating to London
before World War II
through business, in the postwar years he became one of a generation of Hungarian artists working abroad. During the war, he worked for the British Ministry of Labour. With exiled Hungarians, he also worked to found a postwar socialist government in Hungary, but they were defeated by the Soviet Union
.
In the early postwar years, he studied photography
in Paris
with fellow Hungarian émigré Ervin Marton, already a recognized artist
. Returning to London, Peto established his career as a photojournalist, covering the 1948 Summer Olympics
and starting on staff of The Observer
in 1949. He gained recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, capturing British cultural life, including figures ranging from ballet dancers Dame Margot Fonteyn
and Rudolph Nureyev to The Beatles
. He also traveled internationally and produced many photographs of people and regions around the world. Archive Services at the University of Dundee
hold the Michael Peto Collection, which includes thousands of photographs, negatives, slides, publications and papers.
in 1908. His father had a general store, where the young Petö began to work after completing his secondary education. With an interest in Hungarian arts and crafts, he developed his own business and exported items to western European countries.
, where he continued to work in his family's export business of Hungarian craft products. Through this, he was able to reach Great Britain before World War II
. During the war, he lived in London and worked for the Ministry of Labour
. He strongly backed the Allied war effort. In his free time, Petö worked with other Hungarians, planning for the postwar future of their country. He worked as personal secretary to Count Mihály Károlyi
, who had been president of the short-lived Hungarian Democratic Republic
. As the leader of the New Democratic Hungary, he was trying to create the next postwar government. They hoped to establish a socialist Hungary after its liberation at the end of the war, but did not anticipate the postwar domination by the Soviet Union
. During the war Peto also advocated the development of an international exchange school of teachers and pupils once the conflict was over. this reflected his strong interest in the education of adults and children. Peto favoured progressive education systems and was a strong supporter of A S Neill, becoming involved with his Summerhill School
in 1944.
In the early post-war years, Peto became interested in photography and went to Paris, where he connected with the Hungarian arts community. He studied technique with the well-known photographer Ervin Marton, who encouraged him to continue and became his friend, as did others in the art circle. Peto soon returned to London and gained work as a photojournalist, where his friend, the artist Josef Herman
, also supported his new venture.
In 1948, Peto took notable photographs of athletes in the Olympics. By 1949, Peto joined the newspaper The Observer
as a photojournalist. Much of his work reflects his subsequent travels throughout Europe
, the Middle East
, and countries in Asia
, including India
. Major exhibitions have been held of his work in London, Liverpool
, Dundee
(where the archive collection of his prints and negatives is held) and other cities.
Peto's major interest lay in the study of the human form in its natural surroundings. He is considered by some to be one of the supreme masters of this aspect of photographic art. He photographed portraits and candid shots of many famous figures from the worlds of politics, art and entertainment. During the 1950s and 1960s, Peto photographed many figures of the London arts scenes. His photographs of the ballet
partnership of Dame Margot Fonteyn
and the young Russian
refugee
dancer Rudolf Nureyev
, who joined her at the Royal Ballet, were known internationally.
He was commissioned in 1965 to take still photographs of The Beatles during the making of their film Help!
. During the digitisation of the Michael Peto Collection, which is held by Archive Services, University of Dundee
, in 2002, 500 previously unpublished photographs of the Beatles taken during the making of Help! were reported to have been uncovered. His photographs became known for their candid and expressive quality.
Peto also photographed several prominent British political figures of the 1950s and 1960s including Winston Churchill
, Clement Attlee
, Harold Wilson
and Edward Heath
. He also photographed world leaders such as Golda Meir
and Nikita Khrushchev
. He also toured the Middle East
with Save the Children
.
Michael Peto died at age 62 on Christmas Day 1970. The Michael Peto Photographic Collection is now held and administered by Archive Services at the University of Dundee
, Scotland
, which holds the copyright.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
through business, in the postwar years he became one of a generation of Hungarian artists working abroad. During the war, he worked for the British Ministry of Labour. With exiled Hungarians, he also worked to found a postwar socialist government in Hungary, but they were defeated by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
In the early postwar years, he studied photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with fellow Hungarian émigré Ervin Marton, already a recognized artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. Returning to London, Peto established his career as a photojournalist, covering the 1948 Summer Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
and starting on staff of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
in 1949. He gained recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, capturing British cultural life, including figures ranging from ballet dancers Dame Margot Fonteyn
Margot Fonteyn
Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...
and Rudolph Nureyev to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. He also traveled internationally and produced many photographs of people and regions around the world. Archive Services at the University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
hold the Michael Peto Collection, which includes thousands of photographs, negatives, slides, publications and papers.
Early life and education
He was born Mihály Petö to a Jewish Hungarian family in the small town of Bata, HungaryHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in 1908. His father had a general store, where the young Petö began to work after completing his secondary education. With an interest in Hungarian arts and crafts, he developed his own business and exported items to western European countries.
Career
In the 1930s, Petö moved to BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, where he continued to work in his family's export business of Hungarian craft products. Through this, he was able to reach Great Britain before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During the war, he lived in London and worked for the Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour
The Ministry of Labour was a British civil service department established by the New Ministries and Secretaries Act 1916. It was renamed the Employment Department in 1988, and finally abolished in 1995...
. He strongly backed the Allied war effort. In his free time, Petö worked with other Hungarians, planning for the postwar future of their country. He worked as personal secretary to Count Mihály Károlyi
Mihály Károlyi
Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly was briefly Hungary's leader in 1918-19 during a short-lived democracy...
, who had been president of the short-lived Hungarian Democratic Republic
Hungarian Democratic Republic
The Hungarian People's Republic was an independent republic proclaimed after the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918...
. As the leader of the New Democratic Hungary, he was trying to create the next postwar government. They hoped to establish a socialist Hungary after its liberation at the end of the war, but did not anticipate the postwar domination by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. During the war Peto also advocated the development of an international exchange school of teachers and pupils once the conflict was over. this reflected his strong interest in the education of adults and children. Peto favoured progressive education systems and was a strong supporter of A S Neill, becoming involved with his Summerhill School
Summerhill School
Summerhill School is an independent British boarding school that was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around...
in 1944.
In the early post-war years, Peto became interested in photography and went to Paris, where he connected with the Hungarian arts community. He studied technique with the well-known photographer Ervin Marton, who encouraged him to continue and became his friend, as did others in the art circle. Peto soon returned to London and gained work as a photojournalist, where his friend, the artist Josef Herman
Josef Herman
Josef Herman, also known in Wales as Joe Bach , was a highly regarded Polish-British realist painter who influenced contemporary art, particularly in the United Kingdom . His work often had subjects of workers and was inherently political...
, also supported his new venture.
In 1948, Peto took notable photographs of athletes in the Olympics. By 1949, Peto joined the newspaper The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as a photojournalist. Much of his work reflects his subsequent travels throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, and countries in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, including India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Major exhibitions have been held of his work in London, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
(where the archive collection of his prints and negatives is held) and other cities.
Peto's major interest lay in the study of the human form in its natural surroundings. He is considered by some to be one of the supreme masters of this aspect of photographic art. He photographed portraits and candid shots of many famous figures from the worlds of politics, art and entertainment. During the 1950s and 1960s, Peto photographed many figures of the London arts scenes. His photographs of the ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
partnership of Dame Margot Fonteyn
Margot Fonteyn
Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...
and the young Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
dancer Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...
, who joined her at the Royal Ballet, were known internationally.
He was commissioned in 1965 to take still photographs of The Beatles during the making of their film Help!
Help! (film)
Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
. During the digitisation of the Michael Peto Collection, which is held by Archive Services, University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
, in 2002, 500 previously unpublished photographs of the Beatles taken during the making of Help! were reported to have been uncovered. His photographs became known for their candid and expressive quality.
Peto also photographed several prominent British political figures of the 1950s and 1960s including Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
. He also photographed world leaders such as Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
and Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
. He also toured the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
with Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
.
Michael Peto died at age 62 on Christmas Day 1970. The Michael Peto Photographic Collection is now held and administered by Archive Services at the University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, which holds the copyright.
Legacy and honors
- 1960, bronze medal by the International Organisation of Journalists at Interpress-Foto, Berlin
- 1970, bronze medal at the Budapest International Exposition of Photographic Art.
- After his death, his stepson Michael Fodor donated his entire works, an estimated 130,000 photographic prints and negatives, to the University of DundeeUniversity of DundeeThe University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Fodor was a student at the University at the time. A different photograph from the collection can be viewed on the University of Dundee Archive Services website each week. - 2006, Genesis Publications published Now These Days Are Gone, a collection of Peto's photographs of the Beatles. An exhibition of some of these photographs was held at Hoopers Gallery, ClerkenwellClerkenwellClerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...
, in January, 2006 to mark the book's launch. - 2007, An exhibition of Peto's work was held at the University of DundeeUniversity of DundeeThe University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
as part of the University's 40th anniversary celebrations. - 2007-2008, Now These Days Are Gone: The Beatles Photographs of Michael Peto, 18 August 2007 to 2 March 2008, National Conservation Centre, Liverpool.
- 2008, An exhibition of Peto's Beatles photographs was held at Cavan County Museum.
- 2011, Peto's photographs of the Beatles were exhibited in Dundee, as part of the Scottish Beatles Weekend.
- 2011, An exhibition of Peto's work was held at the Proud Gallery, CamdenCamden- Australia :* Camden, New South Wales** Camden Council ** Electoral district of Camden- England :* London Borough of Camden** Camden Town, an area in the borough* Camden School for Girls- United States :* Camden, Alabama* Camden, Arkansas...
.
External links
- "Michael Peto Photographic Collection", University of Dundee
- "The Michael Peto Collection Image of the Week", University of Dundee