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 , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

, a member of the board of trustees for

Impressions Gallery Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery in Bradford, England. It was established in 1972 and located in York until moving to Bradford in 2007. Impressions Gallery also runs a photography bookshop, publishes its own ...

in Bradford, and a co-founder member of

Document Scotland Document Scotland is a photography collective founded in 2012 by Sophie Gerrard, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, Stephen McLaren and Colin McPherson. Sarah Amy Fishlock joined in 2016. It makes documentary photography about Scotland, which it has exhibited a ...

. She has won the Jerwood Photography Award, the Fuji Film Bursary and the

Magenta Foundation The Magenta Foundation is a charitable art publishing house based in Toronto. It was established in 2004 by MaryAnn Camilleri to publish work from both domestic and international emerging artists through exhibitions and publications. In 2005 the fo ...

Award.

Early life and education

Gerrard was born in 1978 in Edinburgh. She graduated from

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

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 Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

and a M.A in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the

London College of Communication The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

in 2006.

Career

In 2012, she co-founded

with Colin McPherson, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and

Stephen McLaren Stephen McLaren is a Scottish photographer, writer, and curator, based in Los Angeles. He has edited various photography books published by Thames & Hudson—including '' Street Photography Now'' (2010)—and produced his own, ''The Crash'' (2018) ...

. 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.

Publications

Zines by Gerrard

*''Tunnock's.'' Southport:

Café Royal A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

, 2015. Edition of 150 copies. *''Document Scotland.'' Southport:

, 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.

Awards

* 2007: One of 6 joint winners, Jerwood Photography Award. * 2007: One of 25 joint UK Winners,

Flash Forward Award. * 2012: Finalist, Photography Open Salon, Arles - To See or not to See. *2014: One of 10 selected for FotoDocument One Planet Living Commission, Brighton, UK.

Group exhibitions

*''Seeing Ourselves,'' Fotospace Gallery, Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland, June–July 2013. *''Document Scotland: The Ties that Bind,''

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

, Edinburgh, Scotland, September 2015 – April 2016. Included ''Drawn to the Land'' by Gerrard. *''Document Scotland, Beyond the Border: New Contemporary Photography from Scotland,''

, Bradford, UK, July–September 2014; Granary Gallery, Berwick Visual Arts, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK, February–May 2017. Curated by Anne McNeill.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard, Sophie 1978 births Living people Documentary photographers Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Alumni of the London College of Communication Photographers from Edinburgh Scottish photographers