Sophie Gerrard

Since the end of last year I’ve found myself spending more and more time in Scotland, particularly Edinburgh. Whilst overseas work continues to be a great passion and I am fortunate to have a job which will always necessitate trips to far away places,  exploring new stories and gaining insight into people’s lives, for now, I find myself increasingly focusing my attention nearer to home.

I’ve been splitting my time between Edinburgh and London for a while now. There have been editorial assignments and jobs in Scotland, as well as commissions in and around London and the south east. Since my three colleagues and I established Document Scotland, I’ve been shooting a lot of new work and travelling all over Scotland for both personal projects and also to meet with new and inspiring photography contacts. I’ve been working on projects in London and presenting work alongside Slideluck London, Miniclick in Brighton as well as with the gallery that have represented me for 6 years, The Photographers’ Gallery. In the autumn term of 2012, I was a visiting lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, a fantastic experience which taught me a lot and allowed me to see the students through a great term of documentary photography to the production of some excellent projects. I also presented work at Hereford College of the Arts and talked to the students there as well as giving a similar presentation with Document Scotland at The School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh. Personal commitments have also given me reason to be in two places at once as it were, there have been important people to spend time with in both. It’s involved quite a juggle.

Partly, those contributing factors have made me feel more and more at home in each city, given me a real sense of place and the travelling in between has felt quite freeing. I look out of the train window as I travel up and down on the east coast at the sea and the cliffs and the waves and I think - there are worse office views.  That journey has given me a real sense of geography, of knowing where I am. At times, however, this dual existence has been slightly more unnerving. It’s left me with a feeling of restlessness, of unease and that something isn’t quite right.

I’ve tried to make sense of this, to articulate it, and to organise my thoughts and put them in neat little labelled boxes - but you know, that doesn’t work for me. Then I remember, the great thing about photography is that often, it can help you address questions. It can be used as a tool to explore, to go wandering and to stop and think.

So, a while ago I decided it might be time to stop trying to make sense of it all in my mind - and instead to make photographs about it.

With the working title of ‘Homecoming’ I’m embarking upon a new and on-going project about the communities, people and places which evoke a sense of place for me. Sometimes, that feeling is a familiar one, and sometimes not, there aren’t necessarily any themes. Sometimes I photograph strangers, people I meet for a fleeting second as they walk past my front door, sometimes it’s views, of places I’ve looked at a thousand times since my childhood. Whatever this project is, it’s personal, it’s new and it’s finding it’s feet and tentatively putting a toe in the water. Here are a few images ….

I was asked by Stuart Pilkington a while ago if I would take part in his latest project called Someone I Know - I immediately said yes. He’s approached me before for a previous project of his called The Chain which I’d been really pleased to take part in - so I agreed straight away to be included in this one.

The formula is a group project - woldwide in this case - and profiled online, I think this projects results are really interesting - there are some really beautiful and evocative portraits included here.

My image is of Caz - we’d been walking and talking our way through a woodland on the way to one of my favourite beaches just outside Edinburgh. It’s a place I’ve visited over and over and can never imagine getting tired of. Caz is also one of my oldest friends and someone very important - it seemed a fitting combination.

Here’s my image and also the links to all the photographers who took part - it’s an impressive list Stuart and once again an impressive project. Thanks for inviting me.

www.someoneiknow.net

The brilliant Slideluck London are hosting the closing night of FORMAT International Photography Festival in Derby, on Saturday 6th April, starting at 6pm. I am delighted to be included in their line up for the evening which looks set to be excellent….

The slideshow was curated by Monica Allende (Photo Editor of The Sunday Times Magazine and founder of the pioneering Spectrum section).

Here’s the full line up…

Alexander Aksakov | Alex Grace | Alfonso Almendros | Andrew Youngson | Arantxa Cedillo | Bryan Schutmaat | Catherin Colaw | Diambra Mariani | Dougie Wallace | Duncan Robertson & Briony Campbell | Fan Shi San | Felix Clay | Fiona Hill | Guillermo Giansanti | Helen Rimell | Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni | Joanna Chudy | Kajal Nisha Patel | Laura Morton | Laura Pannack | Lorna Evans | Marcelo Perez Del Carpio | Mijail Vallejo | Monika Chmielarz | Rafael Arocha | Simon Hipkins | Sophie Gerrard | Suzie Blake | Tina Remiz

An emotional and moving conversation with friends recently brought me back once again to quoting from this article - it’s a piece from Guardian Weekend magazine which has stuck in my mind since I first read it over 2 years ago and will probably always stay with me. No writer is named, nor is the photographer. An anonymous and emotional piece of storytelling - I can think of few things I have ever read which have affected me so deeply…. In a very strange twist of coincidence I found myself meeting the photographer a while ago. As we discussed this piece, they told me who they were. It was one of life’s funny little moments which filled me with hope, fear, tears, joy sadness and excitement and wonder all at the same time.

This piece is often on my mind, whenever I talk about children, or my future, or the lives of others, or sometimes when I see kids playing or just anytime really - it struck a chord back then when I first read it, and it still sits deep. It’s always there. I think it’s a window onto a world few of us know about…. and that journalism and photography and honesty and communication can give us that insight is a constant reminder to me of why they are so important. The power of photojournalism and good storytelling… that’s what it all comes back to I think. That and kindness and never taking things for granted http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/27/diary-of-a-foster-parent

All four of us at Document Scotland are absolutely thrilled to announce the collective’s first curated exhibition ‘Seeing Ourselves’ an exhibition of New Documentary Photography from Scotland which will be on show in Glenrothes, Fife this June and July. The flyer with exhibition details is here - and I’m very happy that my photograph of the cold little sheep made it on there.

Together, we at Document Scotland in conjunction with Colin Cavers from Fotospace Gallery in Fife have curated this exhibition. The group show will feature new work by Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, Colin McPherson, Stephen McLaren and myself from Document Scotland and also work by 7 talented photographers; Martin Hunter, Jenny Wicks, Radek Nowacki, Giulietta Verdon-Roe, Robert Ormerod and Sarah Amy Fishlock.

A really interesting, fun and rewarding part of putting together the Document Scotland blog, Facebook page, website and Twitter, has been featuring a lot of work by some great photographers. We’ve been sent some submissions, been told of great work and it’s been an absolute  joy to talk about and feature work by many of our friends and colleagues in the industry who are working on fascinating things.

The selection we chose for the ‘Seeing Ourselves’ exhibition is quite broad and covers many topics and stories shot in various places from inner cities to rural wilderness  …. there’s good mix and mostly there’s a lot of interesting story telling going on. That’s what we’re fascinated in at Document Scotland and that’s what we want to show.

I’m looking forward to seeing the collection we’ve chosen up on the wall, I have a vague idea of what it’ll all look like but I think seeing it come together will be brilliant.

I’ll be showing work in progress from a new project I’ve been working on this year. So far its taken me up and down the country and into the blizzards - I’m excited about putting it together - the first showing of new work can be daunting but thrilling.  The project is still, as yet, unnamed however - so I’d better get my thinking cap on.

So I really hope if any of you are in Glenrothes from the 3rd June you’ll manage to see the show. We’ll post details of the private view, and In the meantime we have a lot of organising to do.

Document Scotland has been going from strength to strength over the last few months - I keep meaning to write about it, and share what we’ve been doing, but so far that’s been shamefully neglected. However, a recent interview I did with the BJP (which I’ll post a link to as soon as it comes out) and a plethora of questions from well-wishers and new friends alike at Format photography Festival in Derby last weekend have made me mindful of how and why we came together and what Document Scotland is all about. I’d like to tell you a little bit about what brought us together and what my thoughts have been over out initial starting out period…

We have a fairly straightforward and common ambition …  to photograph Scotland at one of the most important times in our nation’s history. We’re 4 Scottish photographers, and what unites us is that we are passionate about Scotland, and we’re passionate about documentary photography. Caledonia is calling - so to speak….. cue misty backdrop and Dougie MacLean….  In October 2012 Colin McPherson, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and Stephen McLaren got in touch asking to feature my project, The Dunes, on the Document Scotland site. I was delighted to be involved, and excited to learn more about their plans for Document Scotland and where the collective was heading. A few weeks later, I was then surprised and thrilled to be invited to join them in their venture and become a core member of the team. They’d liked my work and what I was working on, and for me, the idea of working collaboratively and with a strong focus on Scotland was something I relished the prospect of. It felt like a perfect opportunity, and it’s something I couldn’t be more proud, inspired and excited to be part of it.