Beatles photos found in university archives

Hundreds of previously unpublished photographs of The Beatles are expected to go on show later in the year after being discovered in a university’s archives, officials said today.

Around 500 images came to light when archivists were going through files of negatives at the University of Dundee.

The pictures of the Fab Four were among a vast archive of 130,000 stills gifted by the stepson of Hungarian photojournalist Michael Peto.

They had lain undiscovered in a recess of the university for more than 30 years.

Many of the photographs show John, Paul, George and Ringo relaxing during filming for the band’s second feature film, Help!, released in 1965.

Peto is best known for his pictures of famous figures from the arts world, such as dancers Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn and author CS Lewis.

University spokeswoman Carol Pope said the collection was uncovered during work to transfer the university’s photographic archive on to a digital format.

“The negatives were gifted to the university in 1971 by Peto’s stepson Michael Fodor, who was a student here.

“They came to light after the project to digitise the university’s photographic archive began.

“Because the vast collection of Michael Peto negatives was so big, no one had an idea exactly what was in it until now.

“It really is a fantastic discovery after all these years. Although it is hard to say how many, most of the images will not have been published before.”

Some of the images have already gone on display this week in the refectory of one of the college buildings.

Items from the collection will also be used for a new course at the university in Fine Art Photography.

In the meantime, photographs from the archive will go on display in exhibitions planned in Dundee and London over the coming months.

The university is currently having the collection valued by experts. It is expected to be worth tens of thousands of pounds.