“And This Was the Exhibition”: Launderettes, Buses and Canteens as Gallery Spaces in 1970s Britain

Abstract

In the absence of photographic galleries in Britain in the early 1970s, aspiring documentary photographers turned to ordinary places to show their work, transforming launderettes, buses, canteens and community spaces into temporary galleries. This generation of photographers renewed social documentary in self-initiated projects driven by a sense of social change and a desire to create alternative approaches to photographic representation. Nick Hedges produced exhibitions in the canteens of factories where he had spent time photographing the workers. Daniel Meadows converted a double-decker bus, into a mobile darkroom and exhibition space, travelling across England and Wales. Meanwhile, Paul Trevor used a launderette in Brick Lane, London, to show his work done locally. Active in the neighboring borough of Hackney, the feminist collective the Hackney Flashers had their first exhibition “Women and Work” in the local town hall and in community centers. More than pragmatic initiatives, these resourceful exhibition practices challenged the elitism of high art institutions, while reinforcing the photographers’ engagement with a renewed documentary ethos, combining personal expression and a commitment to specific communities and their cultures. The history of these unusual exhibitions highlights currents of change in British photography, rooted in the cultural politics of the period.