Peto excelled at capturing the world of ballet, particularly the relationship between Nureyev and Fonteyn the two most iconic dancers of the period as this image from 1963 shows. He not only photographed productions, but also rehearsals like this one for ‘Marguerite and Armand’.
Photo-journalist Michael Peto worked with The Observer during the 1950s and ‘60s. His collection is a chronicle of an age – a spirited mix of arts and culture, politics, war and peace, social documentary and the emergence of twentieth celebrity culture. Peto had a very personal humanist style, seeking to record ‘the basic serenity of the human form’.
The collection was gifted to the University of Dundee by Peto’s stepson Michael Fodor and comprises some 130,000 prints and negatives. It is held by the University Archives.