 Two major photographic exhibitions have been opened today at the Scottish Parliament. The world-press photo display of the past year's winning images is being hosted in the main hall, while a collection of images from the 1950s and 60s by the revered photographer Michael Pito is being shown in the Burns room. Access to both is free. Michael Pito was a Hungarian immigrant. He came to London three weeks before the border closed Budapest. He was a Hungarian Jew. When he arrived he had to find a living for himself, his wife to be in three-step children. He became a humanist photographer and started to work freelance for the observer and for a number of other people. This is a selection of political photographs, both politicians, statesmen and activists, including international leaders such as Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama. And then of course the great statesmen like Churchill, Wilson, Heath, all of whom are in this exhibition. I think the distinctive thing about this is that it represents a time that no longer exists and statesmen and people that younger people just don't know. So hopefully this exhibition will help them to understand that period and I think it's nice to look back and look at the people that shaped Britain. What people can expect in the exhibition is the major news topics of last year, so there are some tough images. We see pictures of the fighting on Maidan Square in Ukraine, but then there's also lovely images like there's this picture of an orangutan in Indonesia, a really nice nature imagery. I would really hope that people come away with a sense that they are surprised by something that they haven't seen, there are stories from all over the world. It's such a democratic medium. Everybody's doing photography, but then coming away, seeing all of this, thinking, OK, this is really extraordinary. The World Press photo and Michael Peter exhibitions are being held in the Scottish Parliament from Wednesday over 22nd of July until Saturday over 22nd of August, and admission is free of charge. You can get more information from our website and you can keep up to date with events at the Scottish Parliament through social media.