Drawn To The Land is an ongoing and exploratory project which takes an intimate look at the contemporary Scottish landscape through the eyes of the women who are working, forming and shaping it.
Working and living in a male dominated world, women have a significant yet under represented role to play in farming in Scotland. Farming some of the most inhospitable and isolated rural areas of Scotland, these female farmers have an intense and remarkable relationship with the harsh landscape in which they live and work.
Sophie’s project, begun in 2012, explores the domestic landscape as well as the physical, following the emotional story of the land as much as the historical and geographical. The women’s’ personal and physical stories reflect a wider story of our national identity, and emotional relationship with the landscape.
(Title image: Sarah, Isle of Eigg, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved)
Minty, Isle of Mull, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved
Blackfaced ewes with windfarm turbines, Lauder, Scottish borders. 2013 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Patricia, Lauder, Scottish borders. 2013 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Pink Buckets, Perthshire, 2013 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Patricia, at lambing time Lauder, Scottish Borders, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
“This project began in 2012 as a way of exploring my own relationship with the Scottish landscape. Having worked and lived away from Scotland for almost a decade working on environmentally focused photographic projects, I set out to understand the connection I, like many Scots, have with the landscape. It’s a great symbol of our national identity and nostalgia – but one which can often lead to a view of the picturesque, of romance and “rural fantasy”.
My aim was to uncover something more authentic. And so began a personal journey for me, I wanted to scratch the surface, to go beyond the picturesque postcard view and learn about the land through the eyes of those who are responsible for it.”
Sybil, Dalmally, Argyll, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Patricia at lambing time, Lauder, Scottish Borders, 2013 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Sybil, Dalmally, Argyll, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Lorraine, Langholm, 2013 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Animal Medicines, Langholm, 2013 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Patricia, Langhom, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Mary’s home, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Mary’s farm, Perthshire, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Minty feeding the ponies Isle of Mull, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
The crook given to Sarah by her uncle 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Sarah with her sheep dogs 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Sarah, Isle of Eigg, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Minty, Isle of Mull, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Patricia’s farm, Lauder, The Scottish Borders, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Sybil, Dalmally, Argyll, 2014 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Sybil’s family photographs, Dalmally, Argyll, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Sarah’s farming diary Isle of Eigg, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Portrait of Lorraine’s grandmother Langholm, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Fleeces, Dalmally, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Wind Blown Trees, Isle of Eigg, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.
Mary, Perthshire, 2015 © Sophie Gerrard all rights reserved.