Gallery

International Display:

Postcards from Greenham Common, 1982

© Raissa Page, photographer

In 1981, the British government made a decision to allow 96 cruise missiles to be housed on the American airbase at Greenham Common. At the time, there were more than 100 such American bases in Britain and 13 nuclear power statons. A group of women from Wales marched to the camp to request a debate on the future of the world. When no debate was forthcoming, the women and other supporters in increasing numbers set up a peace camp outside the gates to draw attention to the issue of nuclear weapons and their consequences. Using tactics of non-violent action to disrupt traffic in and out of the base, the peace camp survived against all odds, the missiles were finally removed and retuned to the United States in 1992. The women had a continuous presence at the site until 2000, when it became a commemorative and historic site.

Raissa Page’s photographs document the early days of the occupation. The photographs here are from 1982-83. The photos show the exhilaration, dedication and humour of women committed to the cause of a world without nuclear war. Page was one of the eight founding members of Format Photography Agency. The peace camp at Greenham Common was one of many such actions for social justice photographed by Format from within the events themselves. Another photo shoot documented the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike. The National Portrait Gallery in London is hosting an exhibit of Format’s photographs in 2010. The photo here of women dancing at dawn appeared in the book Toward Nuclear Abolition: A History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement: 1971 to the Present by Lawrence S. Wittner, (Vol. 3 of The Struggle Against the Bomb.) Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003.

The four postcards here reproduce Page’s series of at least seven photographs and were printed by Acme Cards in London. The use of mailable cards demonstrates a way in which ordinary citizens could become involved in and spread information about the Greenham Common action simply through the sly use of a widespread form of communication usually used for tourism or for local mail.

For more information on the Greenham Common peace camp, see www.greenham-common-trust.co.uk/history.htm and www.greenhamwpc.org.uk.

From the collection of Kirsten Kozolanka. Original cards purchased at a May Day outdoor information fair in London in 1985.