Left: Jayne Mansfield making headlines in Hackney, 1949
Right: Budgie, Luke Stephenson

It seems that birds are all the rage these days. Did you know that East London is noted for its love of pet birds? Neither did I until learning about a very John Waters-ish collaboration between Susanna Edwards and 20x200 artist Luke Stephenson.

The duo posted these flyers around Hackney in early May to solicit locals to bring their birds to be photographed and judged. The idea was to recreate an curious event that occurred 49 years ago, when Jayne Mansfield appeared in Hackney to hand out awards at the Best Budgerigar & Foreign Bird Competition.

The results of their efforts are on view in the Jayne Amongst the Birds exhibition which features photographs that Luke made of the brave birds. Here's a sneak peak of one of the winners, Bobby:

Believe it.

The show is on view at Tatty Devine today until August 17th.

Tatty Devine
236 Brick Lane
London
E2 7LH
June 27th to August 17th
Gallery Hours: 11am-6pm everyday

More photographs of Luke's feathered friends are also on display at Jen Bekman Gallery as part of the Summer group show Ornithology.