Born in Nottingham, Sandra George (1957-2013) lived the first seven years of her life in Jamaica with her mother, before moving to Birmingham, and then Edinburgh, to live with her father. George was a community worker in Craigmillar, Edinburgh, taking thousands of images of community projects across Scotland between the 1980s through to the late 2000s. Social justice and equity was at the heart of both George’s community and her artistic work, which was not exhibited during her lifetime. This solo exhibition presents George’s photography and a selection from her wider artistic multi-disciplinary practice, including printing, painting, bookworks, textiles and jewellery. 

Her black and white photography includes subjects ranging from Braille classes at Royal Blind School Edinburgh, to capturing sessions with disabled musicians. Her perspective and insight as a Black female social documentary photographer and artist add further importance to this collection – women photographers of colour capturing community life in Scotland over this period are significantly underrepresented. The message of her work – community, care, accessibility and equality in the arts and workplaces, ethics in working with others in under-reached communities, and exploration of identity – remain important issues today.

The exhibition’s curator, Jenny Brownrigg (GSA Exhibitions Director), has curated several key exhibitions of work by women social documentary photographers in Scotland, including Franki Raffles: Observing Women at Work (2017) and Glean: Early 20th-century women photographers and filmmakers in Scotland (2022–23). This exhibition and accompanying programme is developed in collaboration with Rachael Cloughton, the director of Craigmillar Now, a community-led arts and heritage organisation based in Craigmillar, Edinburgh.  Craigmillar Now holds George’s archive and works with her family to digitise the photographs, and to grow George’s photographic legacy through greater visibility and profile.