Peter Yates has worked as a free-lance photographer in the Ann Arbor area since 1977, when he quit his job as the manager of a bar to take photographs for the Ann Arbor Observer . At the time, the Observer had been in production for less than a year and was a struggling enterprise. The newspaper's distinctive visual style is very much a reflection of Yates' artistic sensibility.
Born in England in 1941, Yates attended an elite boys' school in Sussex, and then the University of Liverpool, from which he received a degree in history in 1964. He travelled around Europe after graduation, worked briefly as a market researcher, and moved to Montreal in 1965. From there he moved to New York City, where he took his first photographs and was a student of Lisette Model. Yates moved to Ann Arbor in 1971 and worked a variety of jobs before taking the risk of supporting himself as a photographer. His clients since then have included the University of Michigan, Newsweek, the New York Times, Business Week and the Star .
From the guide to the Peter Yates photograph collection, 1978-1990, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
