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 Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

, 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.

Early life and education

Gerrard was born in 1978 in Edinburgh. She graduated from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

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. Its origins are in education for the printing and retail industries; it now specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation ...

in 2006.

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.

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.

Awards

* 2007: One of 6 joint winners, Jerwood Photography Award. * 2007: One of 25 joint UK Winners, Magenta Foundation 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 National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

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