Sophie Gerrard Explained

Sophie Gerrard
Birth Date:	1978
Birth Place:	Edinburgh
Nationality:	British
Education:	BSc (Hons) Environmental Sciences, Manchester UniversityMA in Photojournalism & Documentary Photography, London College of Communication
Occupation:	Documentary Photographer

Sophie Gerrard (born 1978) is a Scottish documentary photographer whose work focuses on environmental and social themes. She is a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, a member of the board of trustees for Impressions Gallery in Bradford, and a co-founder member of Document Scotland. She has won the Jerwood Photography Award, the Fuji Film Bursary and the Magenta Foundation Award.^[1]

Early life and education

Gerrard was born in 1978 in Edinburgh.^[2] She graduated from Manchester University in 1999 as an environmental scientist. Her interest in environmental and social issues led her to obtain a photography degree from Edinburgh College of Art and a M.A in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the London College of Communication in 2006.^[3]

Career

In 2012, she co-founded Document Scotland with Colin McPherson, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and Stephen McLaren. Her work has been featured regularly in The Guardian Weekend Magazine, the Financial Times Magazine, the Telegraph Saturday Magazine, the Independent on Sunday, and by Save The Children and Greenpeace International. "Drawn To The Land" which she started in 2012, is an ongoing project examining the importance of representation. The project documents the lives of female hill farmers who work in a predominantly male sector.^[4]

Publications

Zines by Gerrard

• Tunnock's. Southport: Café Royal, 2015. Edition of 150 copies.
• Document Scotland. Southport: Café Royal, 2015. A zine each by Gerrard (Tunnock's), Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert (North Sea Fishing), Stephen McLaren (Dookits) and Colin McPherson (Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw), in a case. Edition of 50 copies.

Publications with contributions by Gerrard

• Common Ground. Document Scotland, 2014. Includes two photo essays from each Document Scotland member, including Gerrard, plus work by members of Welsh photography collective A Fine Beginning. With essays by Malcolm Dickson and Anne McNeill. Published to accompany an exhibition at Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow.^[5]

Awards

• 2007: One of 6 joint winners, Jerwood Photography Award.^[6]
• 2007: One of 25 joint UK Winners, Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Award.^[7]
• 2012: Finalist, Photography Open Salon, Arles - To See or not to See.^[8]
• 2014: One of 10 selected for FotoDocument One Planet Living Commission, Brighton, UK.^[9]

Group exhibitions

• Seeing Ourselves, Fotospace Gallery, Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland, June–July 2013.^{[10] [11] [12]}
• Document Scotland: The Ties that Bind, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, September 2015 – April 2016.^{[13] [14]} Included Drawn to the Land by Gerrard.^[15]
• Document Scotland, Beyond the Border: New Contemporary Photography from Scotland, Impressions Gallery, Bradford, UK, July–September 2014;^{[16] [17]} Granary Gallery, Berwick Visual Arts, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK, February–May 2017.^[18] Curated by Anne McNeill.^[19]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sophie Gerrard. Napier. 2018-10-29.
2. News: Sophie Gerrard: Drawn to the Land. Houghton. Max. 2014-09-18. 2018-10-29. en-GB. 0307-1235.
3. News: Sophie Gerrard : FotoDocument. FotoDocument. 2018-10-29. en-GB.
4. Web site: 'Drawn to the Land' by Sophie Gerrard. National Trust. en. 2018-10-29.
5. Web site: 2020-09-03. Common Ground – our new publication. Document Scotland. 22 August 2014 .
6. News: Jerwood Photography Award 2007 - Jerwood Visual Arts. Jerwood Visual Arts. 2018-10-29. en-GB.
7. News: Flash Forward 2007 – The Magenta Foundation. The Magenta Foundation. 2018-10-29. en-US.
8. Web site: Finalists 2012 « Photography Open Salon. photographyopensalon.org. en-US. 2018-10-29.
9. News: One Planet City Commission In Partnership With FotoDocument Photoworks. Photoworks. 2018-10-29. en-US.
10. News: 30 October 2018. Document Scotland: A collective capturing a nation. The Scotsman.
11. Web site: 30 October 2018. Exhibition: "Seeing Ourselves". Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research.
12. "Document Scotland: The Ties That Bind". Time Out.
13. News: 30 October 2018. Art review: Mixed messages on Scottish independence.
14. Web site: 30 October 2018. Scotland's wild, untameable countryside and the women who work it. British Journal of Photography.
15. News: 30 October 2018. The photography collective exploring Scotland's past and present. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/document-scotland-the-photography-collective-exploring-scotlands-past-and-present-a6678886.html . 24 May 2022 . subscription . live. Jeremy. Sutton-Hibbert. The Independent.
16. News: 30 October 2018. Caledonia dreamin': the best of Scottish photography – in pictures. The Guardian. 16 September 2014. 0261-3077. www.theguardian.com.
17. Web site: 30 October 2018. Document Scotland, Beyond the Border: New Contemporary Photography from Scotland, Impressions Gallery, Bradford. Aesthetica.
18. Web site: 30 October 2018. Beyond the Border: New Contemporary Photography from Scotland. The Maltings Theatre & Cinema.
19. News: 30 October 2018. Beautiful Photos of What May Be the World's Next National Border. The New Republic.