The iconic Rio Cinema in Dalston is the oldest community-run cinema in London. It has been an important cultural space within the area’s diverse community for many years. Back in the 1980s, the basement of the Rio was home to a darkroom and lab for a community-funded street photography group called The Tape/Slide Project.
The project, founded by the Centerprise Bookshop (located opposite the Rio), gave young people the opportunity to use professional photography equipment to document everyday life in and around Hackney — capturing both its highs and lows. Active throughout the 1980s, the team recorded many of the protests and campaigns that defined the decade’s political turbulence, while also turning their lenses to the culture of the time and the daily lives of local people.
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
"The archive was discovered in various boxes and a battered filing cabinet about four years ago when we were clearing out the basement of the Rio to build the second screen. There has been a cinema on the site continuously since 1909, operating in various guises and under several different names as a silent cinema, a news and cartoon cinema, a continental arthouse cinema, and then as an adult porn and live striptease burlesque theatre, when this looked like closing in 1976 the local community stepped in to take over the lease."
- Adam Woodyatt (Rio Cinema).
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
The initiative was led by grassroots groups based at the Centerprise Bookshop, located opposite the cinema on Kingsland High Street. The bookshop was home to a range of community organisations who viewed the cinema as a valuable space for film, theatre, and live music. Its basement areas were also recognised as ideal for youth training, housing a music recording studio, a girls-only rehearsal space, and a photography club complete with darkroom and editing facilities.
The photography group trained local young people and unemployed residents, equipping them with practical skills in photography and reporting. Their work was developed into glass slides and shown at the Rio Cinema as part of a local news feature. Active between 1983 and 1988, the group — known as the Rio Tape Slide Newsreel — documented everyday life in Hackney, capturing community events, local stories, and the protests that shaped the era.
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
After the project ended, it was largely forgotten for nearly three decades — until a collection of filing cabinets and boxes of slides was rediscovered four years ago. What followed was a process of detective work to uncover the archive’s history, alongside the careful restoration and digitisation of its contents. The aim was to bring this remarkable record of life in Hackney back into public view, restoring its role as both an educational resource and a community reference. Several members of the original team have since been contacted and are delighted to see the project revived.
Looking through the images, it’s striking to see how much society has changed. They capture children playing in the streets, teenagers gathered in amusement arcades, and the lively atmosphere of traditional markets and independent shops that once defined the high street — a vivid contrast to the hyper-connected world many of us inhabit today.
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Photo © Rio Cinema Archive
Thanks to Andrew Woodyatt from the Rio Cinema.
You can view the ongoing archive via the Tape/Slide Archive Instagram Page
