Rio Tape/ Slide Archive

Radical community photography in Hackney in the 80s

The Rio Tape/Slide Newsgroup was a community project in the 1980s that met in the basement of the Rio Cinema in Dalston, east London. It taught unemployed local young people photography and sound-recording skills and then sent them out to report on Hackney life. The resulting ‘newsreels’ were then shown on screen at the Rio before the main feature.

The slides were rediscovered in a battered filing cabinet in the Rio basement during renovation work in 2016. They are a treasure trove of radical community photography depicting protests and activism, street scenes, work, play and 80s Dalston style.

In addition to the slides, the book features oral histories from more than 25 people connected with the RTSNG, the Rio, or who appear in the photos. It is a treasure trove of stunning images and a time capsule from the radical past with a strong message about the value of community and protest.

• Softcover / 255 x 195mm (portrait)

• 256 pages / more than 300 images

• Forewords from Michael Rosen and Zawe Ashton, plus essays on the social and cultural context of the archive, printed on coloured paper stock