Solace
In this interview, we speak with Sarah Mei Herman, a photographer and visual artist from The Netherlands, about her photo book Solace. The book was designed by Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS) and published by The New Press. In this project, Sarah focuses on the LGBTQ+ community in Xiamen, China, exploring couple relationships.
Sarah traveled to Xiamen in 2019 to work on the Solace, but when the pandemic struck, she continued the project in The Netherlands between 2021-2022, concentrating on Chinese LGBTQ+ individuals who moved to Europe.
Through her photographs, Sarah explores the theme of solace, as indicated by the title, showing the individual's desire to comfort others during times of distress. We encounter couples and singles in the images, while the connection comes from the symbolism of gestures, body language, and human touch. The images of singles strikingly convey a strong sense of togetherness, knowing the photographer is always present in the specific time and place, able to offer consolation if needed. The project also explores the external world and the struggles the LGBTQ+ community and individuals face in China, including the challenges of openly expressing one’s identity, emotions, and relationships with loved ones. With this project, sexual diversity and the hardships the queer community faces are surfaced with an aim to bring attention, encourage open discussion, and provide solace to the individuals affected. Sarah says, “for me, it once again emphasized how important it is to be free about who you love and who you are or how you identify.”
Photography by Sarah Mei Herman Published by The New Press Designed by Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS)
Book Details
Paperback
Dimensions 8.0 x 9.9 x 0.5 inches
Pages 144
Get your copy at The New Press
‘The way people relate to each other, how their body language reveals and hides certain things, is an endless source of inspiration for me.’
The Artist
Hi Sarah, it is very nice to meet and speak with you about your project and published book Solace. Could you tell a bit about yourself and how you came to photograph people and their stories?
I’m Sarah Mei, and I was born in Amsterdam, where I currently live. I studied BA in Photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and a few years later, I moved to London for a two-year MA at the Royal College of Art. I have always been fascinated by interpersonal relationships and the importance of proximity to others. From the very start, I photographed siblings: both my half-brother, who was born when I was 21, as well as several other sibling relationships, friendship, and young love. The way people relate to each other, how their body language reveals and hides certain things, is an endless source of inspiration for me.
‘I always work in a very intuitive way. When meeting my subject(s) for the first time, I tell them a little about myself and the project, and we try to get to know each other.’
The Project
The project spans several years, taking place between 2019 and 2022, and includes various couples from the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. Could you walk us through finding the couples and working with them on set to create the story and frames you wanted?
For my project Solace, I traveled to Xiamen in September 2019, just before the pandemic started. I found fourteen couples and singles through my existing network in Xiamen, where I had been several times since my four-month artist-in-residence in 2014. I am still in contact with four young women I started photographing there in 2014. Through WeChat, they put me in touch with young people they knew from the Chinese LGBTQ+ community in Xiamen. I arranged meetings with each of them during my two-week visit, going to their homes. With some of them, I met several times, with others only once if their work schedule got in the way.
My plan was to return to Xiamen the following year to complete the project for the book, which was meant to be published at the end of 2020. After waiting for a long time and attempting to find ways to travel back to Xiamen, together with my client (Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios in New York), we decided the only good alternative was to continue the project in The Netherlands. Through an Instagram community for the Chinese LGBTQ+ living in The Netherlands, I found seventeen people who were willing to participate. In 2021 and 2022, I photographed all of them in and around their home environment. I always work in a very intuitive way. When meeting my subject(s) for the first time, I tell them a little about myself and the project, and we try to get to know each other. My ideas for the photographs arise organically while we are together in space. I will always choose a few different locations in and around the house to shoot and try a few different things.
‘Not being free — about who you love or want to be — is unimaginable to me. It’s why I feel a strong need to share these complex, private stories in ways that do justice to those featured.’
Solace
As the title suggests, the theme deals with the feelings of comfort or of providing someone comfort during difficult times. When you closely look at the images, the facial expressions, the body language of the couples, and the general atmosphere that is created, you see people hugging, offering support through the physical touch of a hand or a shoulder. With portraits, what is interesting to notice is that even those singles are not alone as the photographer is there and the eye connection is created, eventually producing the same emotion in the subject. What have you learned about the LGBTQ+ Chinese community through the strengths and vulnerabilities you encountered?
I like what you say about the portraits: that even in the singles, they are not alone because of me being very present when there is eye contact between the subject and my lens/myself. I see my photographs as created moments between us. A space in which the person/people portrayed relate/s to me, and I relate to them. I’m not sure what I have learned in particular, but for me, it once again emphasized how important it is to be free about who you love and who you are or how you identify. Not being free — about who you love or want to be — is unimaginable to me. It’s why I feel a strong need to share these complex, private stories in ways that do justice to those featured. I was impressed by the strength of the young people I met and photographed for this project. Also, about the fact that they wanted to be part of this, although there is always the risk of family members finding out because of these photographs. They trusted me, letting me come into their lives for a moment.
‘Of the people I photographed for Solace living in Xiamen, there wasn’t a single one of them who was able to speak openly about their gender identity or sexual preference to their parents/families.’
The Location
What is interesting about the project is that you worked on it in several locations, starting in Xiamen, China, then, during the Pandemic, moving the project to The Netherlands, eventually returning to Xiamen and meeting the same couples again. What are the differences and similarities you found between people representing the Chinese LGBTQ+ community in those two continents? What is the role of location in the project?
I haven’t returned to Xiamen (yet) since the pandemic, so I started in Xiamen and completed the photography for the book The Netherlands. I am planning to go back to Xiamen at the end of this year to revisit and photograph some of the subjects I started photographing there in 2019! Of the people I photographed for Solace living in Xiamen, there wasn’t a single one of them who was able to speak openly about their gender identity or sexual preference to their parents/families. In some of the cases, they lived with their parents in Xiamen, which made the fact that they had to keep part of themselves a secret even more apparent. Of the people I found living in The Netherlands, many of them were also not able to be open with their parents about their gender identity or sexual preference, but living in a country where it is accepted to be queer and also far away from their families, makes a big difference of course. Two subjects in the project were adopted from China by Dutch parents and grew up in The Netherlands, which is an entirely different situation.
