Sandra George at The City Art Centre, Edinburgh

Sandra George (1957-2013) was a community and youth worker in Edinburgh and a prolific social documentary photographer. A range of her photos are now collected together in an exhibition at Edinburgh's City Art Centre. 

The exhibition groups the photos into themes including family, disability and youth-work and features areas of Edinburgh that many people, even lots of long term city residents, aren't familiar with. It's certainly a good exhibition to have on during Edinburgh's summer festivals, as hopefully it will give many tourists a view into the Edinburgh communities that they generally won't see during their visit. 

George's photos are documentary, so she focussed on capturing the people and activities around her and her relationship with her own son. Many of the photos show her ability to elevate an ordinary moment into a timeless memory.

You can read a longer review by Lee Sharrock, along with a few selected photos from the exhibition here. 

 

Sandra George: Start from the Level showing at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh, until Sun, 27 Sept 2026

The Library

I loved the library in the town where I grew up. It was housed in a quirky little building with shiny wooden floors and steps down to the children’s section. The place smelt wonderfully of polished wood and was full of more books than I would ever be able to read. I could choose any book I wanted to, without having to think about whether I would be allowed to buy it. So I discovered stories that I would never have otherwise found, stories that still sit in my memory now, though I’ve forgotten the details. A story of children growing up in the stone age; a story of a boy with epilepsy discovering a bond with nature and many others. It was also here that one day I was surprised by a fellow pupil from my school slithering under the book cases and grabbing my ankles!

When I was a teenager, the library started stocking music, which gave an extra dimension to my borrowing. Now I could randomly select music and listen, without actually buying the albums! A great way to broaden my musical horizons.

I pass the library every time I visit the town where I grew up. The building now houses a motor-cycle showroom. The library itself is now up in the town centre, in the same building as the medical centre. I’ve never visited it there, it just wouldn’t be the same, though I’m sure it offers the same expanded horizons to today’s children as the old library did for me.

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Originally published as part of the CILIPS (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) 2022 #LibrariesareEssential campaign. You can find all the creative responses to their campaign on their website here!