Record

Code	DS/UK/479
Person Name	Hackney Flashers' Collective; 1974-; Photography collective
Corporate Name	Hackney Flashers' Collective
Dates	1974-
Dates and Places	Formed in 1974 in Hackney, London
Activity	Key projects: Women and Work (1975). A photographic exhibition of black and white prints and hand-written text making visible the huge, hidden role that women played in the economy, and making an argument for equal pay. Although it used simple ideas and basic production techniques it circulated widely and was welcomed and admired. It toured to many community venues and political events, including the 1977 Socialist Feminist International Conference in Paris. Who’s Holding the Baby (1978). The second exhibition was built on lessons learnt from producing ‘Women and Work’, and it reflected the group’s growing political and creative sophistication. Its subject matter, the lack of childcare provision available to working mothers, could not be addressed using documentary photography alone since the strength of documentary is its ability to reveal what is there. Montages, together with full-colour cartoons, were used with photographs documenting Market Nursery and its users in Hackney, East London in order to highlight the lack of childcare provision in the area and some of its effects. The twenty-nine-panel exhibition was presented on lightweight, laminated material designed to be robust and easy to hang in non-gallery settings. It was launched at Centreprise Community Centre in Kingsland Road, Hackney, London in 1978. It then went on tour to community, political and educational events and venues round the country. In 1979 it was included in, Three Perspectives on Photography at the Hayward Gallery in London.[2] This attracted controversy and some criticism from the art establishment. Domestic Labour and Visual Representation (1980). Following requests from different sources the collective produced an education pack (24 slides and a booklet) using the work of the Hackney Flashers. This was particularly intended to encourage students’ active, critical participation in the subject portrayed and also the issue of representation.
Source	History sources from Hackney Flasher's website, https://hackneyflashers.co.uk/ Accessed May 2023
Related Record(s)	DS/UK/474
Related Record(s)	DS/UK/478