Protectors of Sight, an exhibition of work by award-winning documentary photographer Sophie Gerrard can be seen at The Courtyard, as part of Hereford Photography Month, until Sunday, December 1.

Sophie specialises in contemporary environmental and social issues and began her career in environmental sciences before studying photography at Edinburgh College of Art and completing an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at The London College of Communication in 2006.

Her first major project E-Wasteland won a Jerwood Photography Award, a Magenta Award for emerging artists and was exhibited and published widely in the UK and overseas.

Her show at The Courtyard features work from the Protectors of Sight project which takes as its subject the work of the Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital (AJEH) in Bihar, which performs free cataract surgery on more than 100 blind patients every day, working in almost impossible conditions, to cure the backlog of over half a million cataract blind people in Bihar.

Also on display is The Red Suitcase Project, the result of a partnership between Hereford College of Arts and The Courtyard’s Arts and Older People Project, an exciting collection of quilts and artefacts created by 12 second year degree students and residents of West Eaton House, Whitchurch House and Ross Court in Herefordshire. The groups of students undertook six week placements during which they took a red vintage suitcase with sample quilts and other objects to use as inspiration. The project has allowed different generations to form new relationships, share experiences and discover untold stories.

Both exhibitions run at The Courtyard during opening hours until Sunday, December 1.

_