Exhibition painting a portrait of Edinburgh's housing schemes

When Sandra George arrived in Edinburgh as a student in 1980, her striking looks and lustrous dreadlocks made her a favourite with hairdressers and photographers.

But as a student of photography, she was happier behind the lens.

Across three decades, she documented the communities of Craigmillar, Wester Hailes, Greendykes and Niddrie. Places she lived and worked, building an extraordinary archive of photographs which was barely seen in her lifetime.

Now one of those communities - Craigmillar - is working with the Edinburgh Art Festival and the City Arts Centre to bring her to a wider audience.

The heritage organisation Craigmillar Now was entrusted with more than 80,000 photos after Sandra's death from cancer at the age of 57 in 2013.

It's now more than halfway through the process of preserving and digitising the archive, and getting her work in front of the public.

Julie Berman has been a volunteer at Craigmillar Now since it opened.

"I knew Sandra as a youth worker but I had no idea that she did all this," she says.

"She was obviously able to be in the background which helped her get into these spaces and take pictures anonymously."

The 200 photos on display at the City Arts Centre represent the biggest exhibition to date, but they're still just a fraction of the archive she kept in a garden shed.

"I always thought she was a bit of a hoarder," says her son Tyler, who first appeared in her photos as a premature baby in an incubator.

"We had all her folders and files of negatives and no idea what to do with them and my father came across the archive and just asked them [the exhibitors] and they jumped at the chance."

As well as the photos, the exhibition includes Sandra's cameras, equipment and notebooks.

In one, she notes "stop making assumptions about people" and "start from the level people are based" – a philosophy that gives the show its title.

The images reflect Sandra's activism, documenting protests and demonstrations in Edinburgh and in Birmingham where she grew up.

As a young black woman, she was also interested in identity in this rapidly changing world, and she moved easily through different settings.

The Sikh shopkeepers, photographed next to racist graffiti, a black actor in Highland dress outside a theatre, a crowd of children and a young policewoman in a playground.

Becky Smith was one of those kids. Thirty years later, she's brought her own children along to see the image that's framed on the gallery wall, and also available as a postcard in the gift shop.

"I remember lots of photos being taken when I was younger in play schemes," she says.

"But this is good because it's a piece of art now, isn't it?"

"I'm planning on coming with my mum and my sister to see the exhibition because we've seen other photos that people that we know are in."

Craigmillar has a rich history of creative women, dating back to Helen Crummy who founded the Craigmillar Festival after children in the area were deemed ineligible for music lessons.

The archive could be a powerful tool in boosting the pride and energy of the community, as well as sharing Sandra's work with the world.

Christian Noel Charles, who co-curated the exhibition, is an artist from New York. She first discovered Sandra's work while looking through an archive of black women in Scotland and believes her recognition is long overdue.

"Sandra George was a pioneer and a game-changer in terms of representing and documenting Edinburgh, but also as a photographer," she says.

"As an artist who uses identity in my own work, she really was an important teacher who was so prolific and so passionate."

The exhibition includes a number of streetside billboards featuring Sandra's work – a full circle moment for many of those who knew her well.

Tyler says he recalls walking to school in the area where one of the outdoor exhibitions was placed.

"It's overwhelming really," he says, "Sandra would always see something that others might miss.

"She had this magical ability to just be able to point a camera at something and find that moment.

"And hopefully this is a way of sharing that skill with others."

Start from the Level is on at the City Arts Centre in Edinburgh from 27 June until 27 September.