Rarely-seen images of The Beatles will go on show in Dundee’s Gallery Q next month to coincide with the Scottish Beatles Weekend held in the city.
The photographs taken by Michael Peto and held by Dundee University’s archives show the Beatles in 1965, the year of the filming of Help! and the award of their MBEs.
Archivist Patricia Whatley said, “These little-seen photographs show the Beatles backstage during the filming of Help! with the film’s director Richard Lester and their manager Brian Epstein.”
The photographs were taken by Mr Peto, who appears to have had behind-the-scenes access to the Beatles at a time when their image was still tightly controlled.
The exhibition presents a series of prints, two interpretation boards and four large mounted prints, all developed from Mr Peto’s negatives.
The collection showcases pictures of all four Beatles including images of them at work in studio, taking tea, holding press conferences and in their homes.
When Peto died in 1970 his collection of 130,000 prints and negatives was left to Dundee University by his family. Over 400 photographs were rediscovered during a project to digitise parts of the collection.
Mr Peto was born in Hungary in 1908, moving to London in 1939. His work includes photographs from Israel, Korea, North Africa and India, as well as from Britain and Europe.
In the 1960s his work featured subjects from the performing arts, including the dancers of the Royal Ballet and actors from BBC drama and Prospect Theatre.
The collection also includes images of Nelson Mandela, Ian McKellen and C. S. Lewis.
Prints will be on sale during the Now These Days Are Gone exhibition, which opens at Gallery Q, 160 Nethergate, on August 12 and will remain on display until Friday the 18th.Scottish Beatles Weekend runs from August 12-14. See www.scottishbeatlesweekend.com for more information.