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Poster for Hayward Gallery events, Archive material ©Hackney Flashers. A yellow poster with red funky text reading Who's Holding the Baby? A photo exhibition by the Hackney Flashers, 1 June to 8 July 1979. Hayward Gallery SE1. Two under fives events, outside/inside the Hayward.
The Hackney Flashers at the Hayward Gallery, 1979.

This page contains original archive material relating to the production and display of work by the Hackney Flashers.

Below is a sketched plan of the layout of the Three Perspectives on Photography exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in 1979. This was the Hayward Gallery’s first major photography exhibition and was organised by the Arts Council of Britain.

It was made up of three sections curated by John Tagg, Angela Kelly and Paul Hill. It included work by Victor Burgin, Jo Spence, Alexis Hunter,  and the Hackney Flashers.

A diagram of the layout for the 1979 Hayward Gallery exhibition.

The Hackney Flashers exhibited their project on childcare ‘Who’s Holding the Baby?’ at the Hayward exhibition. Below is a draft of the exhibition text which accompanied the panels that made up the project.

A working document showing edited text for Who's Holding the Baby panels at Hayward Gallery with pen marks for changes being made

The poster below shows how the group organised events outside and inside the exhibition to continue to draw attention to the question of childcare.

Poster for Hayward Gallery events, Archive material ©Hackney Flashers. A yellow poster with red funky text reading Who's Holding the Baby? A photo exhibition by the Hackney Flashers, 1 June to 8 July 1979. Hayward Gallery SE1. Two under fives events, outside/inside the Hayward.
Typed up notes on meetings with the Art Council note that due to shortage of space panels will be double stacked.

The exhibition was toured widely in community venues and as part of events like the ‘Images of Women in the Media’ conference in North Devon.

Leaflet reads Images of Women in the Media, 20-22 April '79, Beaford Centre, North Devon. A cartoon drawing shows two people dancing, a baby singing and a TV on an armchair.
Beaford leaflet shows a drawing of a baby in a pram and a speech bubble from the baby saying "who's holding the baby". Text reads An exhibition of childcare. Hackney Flashers Collective. 20-22 April The Beaford Centre. 11-19 April The Plough, Torrington.
A poster for exhibitions at the Cockpit Gallery. Who's Holding the Baby?? and Working Lives 2. Includes a grafitti montage from Who's holding the baby and a photo of a woman doing laundry.

While working together, the group kept a minute book to record their decisions and processes of working.

Hackney Flashers Minute Book open on a page spread showing doodles and scribbled notes.
Hackney Flashers Minute Book open on a page showing written notes.

The first project made by the Hackney Flashers, ‘Women and Work’ was widely exhibited. The newspaper cutting below reviews the exhibition when it was shown at The Half Moon Gallery.

A review of the Women and Work exhibition from The News Line Newspaper in June 1976. The headline reads "Sensistive Treatment of Hackney women", The aritcle reviews the exhibition showed at the Half Moon Gallery. It is illustrated by a photo of a woman at a sewing machine in a garment factory.

The first showing of ‘Women and Work’ as part of the 75th Anniversary Celebrations of the Hackney Trades Council received coverage in the Hackney Gazette at the time:

Coverage of 'Women and Work', in the Hackney Gazette newspaper in September 1975. Headline reads "Woman at work". The short snippet asks "what kind of work do Hackney women do?"

Ironically this piece refers to a celebration of “union men”:

Coverage of 'Women and Work', in the Hackney Gazette in September 1975. Ironically the headline reads "Local Union Men Go on Celebrating" in it's coverage of the Hackney Trades Council 75th anniversary events. It also mentions the Hackney Flashers "Women and Work" exhibit.
Coverage of 'Women and Work' in the Hackney Gazette in 1975. The clipping headline reads "Anniversary celebrations about to end".

The first showing of ‘Who’s Holding the Baby’ at Centerprise in Hackney was featured in the Hackney Gazette in 1978.

Coverage of 'Who's Holding the Baby?' in the Hackney Gazette, September 1978. The headline reads "Photographs show world of women and childcare". The clipping describes the first showing of "Who's Holding the Baby".

In 1980 the group put together an education resource slide pack and booklet on ‘Domestic labour and visual representation’ for use in communities and education:

Domestic labour and visual representation slide pack. A booklet and a pack of numbered slides labelled Hackney Flashers Collective. The booklet cover reads "Domestic labout and visual representation".

This photograph shows a meeting of the Hackney Flashers in one of the members’ homes in the 1970s.

A meeting of Hackney Flashers members in a members home in the 1970s. The members are seated around a table looking thoughtfully around at panels on the wall and at each other. The table is covered in papers and photo contact sheets. One member is holding a baby. ©Hackney Flashers

In a recent edition to our archive, below is a letter from Michael Ann Mullen to the Financial Times in response to their review of Women in Revolt at Tate Britain.

Image shows a letter from Hackney Flashers member Michael Ann Mullen, published in the Financial Times in November 2023.

See our history page for more information on the group’s work and background.

©Hackney Flashers

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